ABSTRACT
The main issue in the debate over what the United States ought to do is the status of civil and political rights in China. Led by Bob Dole, Jesse Helms, and Newt Gingrich, the new majority was primarily interested in domestic affairs in the United States, even though they were more wary of China than the previous Congress had been. They believed that promoting better trade with China, far from promoting cooperation with the United States on Asian security issues and global proliferation, was giving a potential opponent an unnecessary boost. This group agreed with presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan that “China is not only antagonistic to US values, she is perhaps the only nation on earth to present a near-term threat to US interests in Asia.” The chapter examines most favoured nation trade status policy making in the United States to excavate the basis of disagreement between the United States and China.
