Kilka uwag o stosunkach ChRL i USA: próba bilansu ostatnich trzech dekad

The author analyses new dimensions of the PRC-US co-operation at the beginning of the 21st century. He outlines the fundamental changes in their interrelations during the last thirty years, i.e. between the two US presidents’ visits to the PRC: by Richard Nixon in 1972 and by George W. Bush in 2002. The author indicates main reasons for the new Nixon’s policy toward China. One constituted the necessity to reduce US’ involvement in Vietnam and the process of “vietnamisation” of that war. Another one was a Soviet threat and the intention to reach a new agreement with Moscow: the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty. On the Chinese side it was a growing military tension on the Soviet-Chinese border that could result in war or in a massive Soviet invasion. Each side started to reconsider its relations with the former enemy and had to change its policy. When the Cold War ended, the entire geopolitical situation underwent fundamental transformations. The Soviet factor in the PRC-US relations disappeared, and the US became a dominant power in the world. The three new factors initiated to influence their bilateral relations: 1) the US insistence on human rights; 2) US intervention in local conflicts (from the war against Iraq in 1991, till the Kosovo conflict at the end of the 1990’s); 3. The US led antiterrorist coalition after September 11th, to which the PRC cautiously adhered. In author’s opinion the US military involvement in the territories close to the Chinese border usually resulted in “warming up” of their bilateral relations. This could be seen in the periods of the Vietnam War, of the Soviet invasion to Afghanistan and the US supported resistance, and of the US intervention against Taliban regime. Under such circumstances military requirements usually stimulated and strengthened their co-operation in various spheres. PRC-US relations are characterised by simultaneous co-operation and rivalry. So, their bilateral relations fluctuate. Co-operation predominates in the economic sphere, and competition in international relations. All US administrations, from George Bush, senior, to George W. Bush, junior, considered China the most important, potential rival in the Asia–Pacific region, and in the future – probably in the world. Thus it is US vital interest to strengthen the co-operation with PRC’s neighbours: Japan, Russia, and the Central Asia. The PRC undertakes similar efforts. One can conclude that today China already constitutes a key factor in US policy towards Asia, and that the September 11th events further increased her significance to Washington.