Exception to the rule: the Obama administration and China-U.S. relations

Abstract

Abstract The election of an opposition party candidate into the White House usually leads to friction between China and the United States. This paper argues that Barack Obama's election will serve as an exception. Instead of taking a harsher line on China, President Obama would inherit many of Bush's pragmatic policies on China. This has already been proven by the stable development of relations between the two countries during the better part of Obama's first year in office. However, by the end of the year, relations between China and the United States appeared to be heading into some troubled waters. This paper begins with some thoughts on the election of an opposition candidate in general and that of Obama in particular in terms of its impact on China-U.S. relations. Then, it discusses the opportunities and challenges the election of Obama posed to China-U.S. relations. Afterward, it comes up with some speculations on the prospects for China-U.S. relations. And finally, it makes a preliminary assessment of the impact of Obama's election on China-U.S. relations during the first year of the Obama administration.