The Evolving Roles of Chinese Visiting Scholars and Students in Sino-US Relations: 1978-2018

Chinese visting scholars and students are the barometer of Sino-US political relations in the past four decades. This paper divides the People’s Republic of China’s relations with the US into three phases of the “honey moon” (1978-1988), the “cautious engagement” (1989-2012), and the “strategic competition” (2013 to present). The research shows that during the first stage, Chinese visiting scholars and students were welcomed, because they were perceived as useful tools for the US to engage Beijing in order to promote liberatlization of Chinese politics. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, US still embraced the Chinese visiting scholars and students, albeit in a cautious manner. Since Xi Jin-ping took Presidency, the US has targeted China as a strategic competitor and Chinese visiting scholars and students are imagined as the extension of China’s “sharp power”. Thus, the Chinese visiting scholars and students will be faced with more censorship and supervision under the Trump administration in the foreseeable future.