ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the history of the normalization process and assesses what has been lost, what has been gained, and what remains to be accomplished. The prolonged disorders and political arguments over policy within China, as well as uncertainties and political disagreements in the United States about how and when to disconnect itself from the Republic of China on Taiwan, delayed the process of normalization. China and the United States had been military and ideological adversaries for 30 years when President Richard Nixon went to Beijing in 1972. The Chinese can do little to affect adversely the US economy at present, but a sharp decline in US economic growth, or a turn to economic nationalism and protectionism by the United States would be of great concern to China. The growth of China's economic and trade relations with the West has brought an increasing need for Western technology and knowhow in such fields as business management, law, trade, and investment.
