ABSTRACT
As President Ronald Reagan's administration took office, it faced two difficult and interrelated issues concerning US policy toward China. One--relations with Taiwan--was raised by the president himself during the campaign. The other--whether to continue a "tilt" toward China, especially in the military sphere--is a legacy of the previous administration. During 1980 the United States completed the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China, and, in the process, ended the policy of "evenhanded" treatment of China and the Soviet Union. Prior to mid-1979 the Carter administration fashioned relations with China in accordance with the principle of "evenhandedness" toward Beijing and Moscow. Building on negotiations in 1979, US-China economic relations were normalized in 1980. Most importantly, Congress approved the Sino-American trade agreement in January, thereby granting China most-favored-nation treatment. China's entry into the international monetary fund raised questions among other developing nations regarding China's future share of Fund borrowing rights.
