A neglected dimension of the Sino - U.S. cultural relationship: Cultural exchanges, cultural diplomacy, and cultural interaction

This dissertation explores a largely neglected dimension of bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China: cultural relationship and seeks of fill that intellectual vacuum in the scholarship of the Sino-U.S. relationship.;Three integral components of Sino-U.S. cultural relationship are examined: cultural exchanges, cultural diplomacy, and cultural interaction, as are suggested by the title. Major questions that are raised in this dissertation include: (1) what are the major American cultural exchange programs, either government-sponsored or privately funded, that have been developed? (2) what are the objectives they are designed to serve? (3) what is the Chinese perception of American objectives in promoting cultural exchanges with China and what are the Chinese objectives in promoting cultural exchanges with the U.S.? And how does China seek to control American cultural influences? (4) What impact has cultural interaction, an inevitable consequence of cultural exchanges, produced?;China's cultural relationship with the U.S., suspended since its seizure of mainland China, was resumed on a small scale in 1972 as a result of improvement in their bilateral relationship and cultural exchanges between the two nations were further expanded in 1979, as China sought U.S. assistance to train Chinese students and scholars as part of its efforts to modernize its economy. China's decision to expand cultural exchanges with the U.S. on a massive scale was epoch-making in light of its deep-rooted fear of American cultural influences and its suspicion of persistent U.S. efforts to transform Chinese society by projecting its culture, values, and ideas into China.