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Chapter 1 Introduction
The U.S.-China relationship is often described as being the most important, or most consequential, bilateral relationship in the world. For decades now, there have been debates in the academic and policy worlds about how China’s rise will affect the international system and the U.S. in particular. The bilateral relationship has been full of ups and downs, at times experiencing highs of friendship and growth while at others being dragged down by
disappointment and mistrust. Despite the fact that both countries acknowledge the importance of the relationship and have made countless attempts to cooperate, the relationship is still often strained and the rhetoric negative. Why has it been so difficult for the U.S. and China to exit the cycle and maintain healthy relations? One complicating factor is the pervasive presence of particular narratives. Both China and the U.S. maintain narratives about the relationship that appear throughout the years and the state of the relationship. What is the power of narrative in international relations? What are the specific narratives at work in the U.S.-China relationship and what role do they play? This thesis takes the constructivist approach that narratives and identity are inescapably linked with the way states behave, and thus should be studied in order to gain insight into international relationships. It offers a supplementary perspective to traditional realist, liberal, and constructivist understandings of the U.S.-China relationship.
How do these historical narratives interact with trade policy, and what are the larger implications for the U.S.-China relationship? This thesis attempts to answer this question by establishing the constructed historical narratives and examining how these narratives have appeared in materials regarding trade policy in the currently ongoing U.S.-China trade war. Do narratives help perpetuate the trade war? This thesis finds that not only are the narratives present
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in the trade war, but also that the purposeful continuation of these narratives helps perpetuate the conflict by reinforcing predilections towards selecting certain policy options.
Crucial to this study are the historical narratives themselves. Historical narratives have the power to shape, inform, and perpetuate a collective identity, such as a nation’s identity. The power of identity to then determine how a country behaves cannot be underestimated, and that is precisely what this research seeks to investigate. While a narrative is at its core a story, it is also a critical way “in which we construct disparate facts in our own worlds and weave them together cognitively in order to make sense of our reality” (Patterson & Monroe, 1998). Narratives help shape and define the ways in which people view themselves and the world around them, and this extends to political relationships as well.
Two distinct narratives are explored in this paper. The first is the American narrative of unappreciated benevolence, which tells the story of a global leader whose generosity goes unappreciated and whose authority goes unheeded at times, leading to situations where it can be taken advantage of and harmed. Stemming from the concept of American exceptionalism, this narrative promotes the idea that the U.S. is a moral example and leader who bestows
benevolence upon the rest of the world, but does not always receive the same kind of benevolent treatment in return. The narrative paints the U.S. as a benevolent hegemon whose efforts often go unnoticed or unappreciated, or whose benevolence creates opportunities for other countries, like China, to easily take advantage of it. The narrative is prominent in American discussions of the U.S.-China relationship, as well as in discussions of trade policy. The U.S. has long been critical of China’s approach to trade, labeling many of its policies unfair and illegal.
The second narrative is the Chinese one of national humiliation and national
rejuvenation. This linear narrative describes a China that was taken down in its prime by foreign
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intrusions and subjected to countless humiliations. Now, China is rising back to its correct position of prominence and will no longer tolerate bullying or foreign interference. The Chinese narrative comes from China’s “Century of Humiliation” (百年國恥), a defining period of time in Chinese history between 1839 and 1949 when Western powers and Japan intervened in China.
This period of time is a great scar on a proud Chinese history, and marks a division in history, with many textbooks referring to before and after the Century of Humiliation (Kaufman, 2010).
The resulting narrative is one of both loss and redemption: China suffered humiliation at the hands of foreign powers, but has ultimately overcome that struggle and has risen back to its rightful position of global prominence. The narrative has been adopted by the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) and used to legitimize its right to rule by claiming that the CCP ended the period of humiliation and regained China’s independence and dignity (Wang Z. , 2008). This narrative has colored cultural, economic, and political interactions between the U.S. and China for decades.
The primary scope of the thesis will be limited to the trade war between the U.S. and China. The foundations for this conflict were set in 2016 during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and the trade war took off in 2018. As of this writing the trade war is still very much underway, though as of June 29 the countries agreed to continue talks and hold off on new tariffs for the time being. The ongoing nature of this conflict adds to the overall uncertainty regarding the future of the trade relationship, and indeed the overall relationship, between the U.S. and China. The trade war presents an interesting, modern-day case of the use of these particular narratives. Even the way the U.S. and China approach the trade war demonstrates the different assumptions embedded in their understandings of the relationship. For example, in May of this year President Trump referred to the trade war as “a little squabble with China” (Remarks by
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President Trump Before Marine One Departure, 2019). The attitude conveys multiple aspects of the American narrative: the sense of American superiority, the inevitability of an American victory, and the parental view that allows the U.S. to brush off a major trade conflict with China as a “squabble.” Conversely, Chinese discourse around the trade war has gone the opposite route;
the terms used to describe the conflict include “a new Long March” (新长征) (Xi, 2019) and “a people’s war” (人民戰爭) (王怡, 2019). These terms, undeniably much more intense than
“squabble,” signify that for China, this conflict is a chance for it to take a stand and assert itself on its path to national rejuvenation. The term “new Long March” pulls from history and its name to show that China will not back down in this conflict, regardless of how long it takes. This commitment to a potentially long-term conflict stands in stark contrast to Trump’s “squabble.”
The organization of this paper is as follows. Chapter 2 outlines the methodology for this thesis, including the theoretical framework and data. Chapter 3 is a literature review that
contextualizes this topic in the existing literature on U.S.-China trade and the political usage of narratives. It also provides an overview of the literature on the Chinese narrative of national humiliation and the concept of American exceptionalism, which is closely related to the
American unappreciated benevolence narrative put forth here. Chapter 4 defines each narrative and gives examples of the narratives throughout the history of the U.S.-China relationship.
Chapter 5 analyzes data from the recent and ongoing trade conflict under President Trump and President Xi, identifying the separate narratives in speeches and statements. Chapter 6 analyzes the interaction of the narratives with each other. The final chapter concludes with a discussion of narrative importance in international relations, implications for the relationship, and suggestions for future research.
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Chapter 2 Methods