ABSTRACT
T h r o u g h o u t mos t of the 1990s, U.S.-China relat ions experienced serious s t ra in . The re la t ionship be tween the t w o countr ies de ter iora ted sharp ly after the T iananmen Crisis o f 1989. I t r ema ined tense t h r o u g h o u t the ear ly 1990s because o f disputes over China ' s h u m a n r igh ts record, its a l leged ex p o r t o f miss i le a n d nuclear technology, a n d its g r o w i n g b i l a te ra l t rade sur p l u s w i t h the U n i t e d States. Tensions rose even h igher i n 1995-1996, after the U.S. dec ided to a l l o w Taiwan 's President Lee Teng-hui to v i s i t C o r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y i n the s p r i n g of 1995, a n d after the People's Republ ic o f C h i n a (PRC) conduc ted m i l i t a r y exercises i n the T a i w a n Strait to forestal l any moves t o w a r d Taiwanese independence. For the f irst t i m e since the he igh t of the V i e t n a m War, there was the poss ib i l i t y that the U n i t e d States a n d C h i n a m i g h t become engaged i n a di rect m i l i t a r y confronta t ion .
