East Asia–United States relations
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East Asia–United States relations covers American relations with the region as a whole, as well as summaries of relations with China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and smaller places. It includes diplomatic, military, economic, social and cultural ties. The emphasis is on historical developments.


Main countries


History


Southeast Asia

Early American entry into what was then called the
East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...
was low key. In 1795, a secret voyage for
pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...
set sail from
Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
on an 18-month voyage that returned with a bulk cargo of pepper, the first to be so imported into the country, which sold at a profit of seven hundred per cent. In 1831, the merchantman ''Friendship'' of Salem returned to report the ship had been plundered, and the first officer and two crewmen murdered in Sumatra. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 obligated the Dutch to ensure the safety of shipping and overland trade in and around Aceh, and they accordingly sent the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...
on the punitive expedition of 1831. President
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
also ordered America's first Sumatran punitive expedition of 1832, which was followed by a second punitive expedition in 1838. The ''Friendship'' incident thus afforded the Dutch a reason to take over Aceh; and Jackson, to dispatch diplomatist Edmund Roberts, who in 1833 secured the Roberts Treaty with Siam. In 1856, negotiations for amendment of this treaty,
Townsend Harris Townsend Harris (October 4, 1804 – February 25, 1878) was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the " Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the d ...
stated the position of the United States:
The United States does not hold any possessions in the East, nor does it desire any. The form of government forbids the holding of colonies. The United States therefore cannot be an object of jealousy to any Eastern Power. Peaceful commercial relations, which give as well as receive benefits, is what the President wishes to establish with Siam, and such is the object of my mission.


Opium trade in China

British merchants, protected by the Royal Navy, dominated the opium trade in China. The opium was grown in India – then under British control – and sold by British merchants to Chinese wholesalers in China. The Chinese government protested, two wars resulted, with decisive victories by the British. The Americans did only 1/10 as much opium business in China, but showed more ingenuity in developing sources, and building a network of Chinese merchants. The British had a monopoly on the Indian supply, but the Americans relied more on Turkey, and circumvented Chinese restrictions by smuggling to local merchants in the Portuguese colony of Macau while the Chinese government was focused exclusively on the British in Canton. In effect the British Navy protected the American interests, and American merchants received protection from the unequal treaties that China was forced to sign with the British. American merchant Peter Snow was based in Canton, but his business was not highly profitable. On the other hand, he served as the U.S. consul there in the late 1830s and early 1840s. He proved efficient and effective in protecting American business interests during the opium crisis of 1839–40. The Chinese government saw him the Americans as a counterweight to the British. The Americans opportunistically took advantage of British victories and gain the same privileges without using or threatening to use its military. The emerging American policy was equal opportunity for all nations, which by 1900 became the "open door" policy. The main American activity in China saw merchants unloaded their opium in Portuguese Macau, and purchase tea, silk and China in Canton. Most of the Americans were based in Salem Massachusetts, and after 1840 they suddenly gave up the international trade, and invested their profits in new textile factories in New England. There were practically no opportunities to invest in China itself, so the American presence dropped off sharply. All the remained was a nostalgic image of a friendly China that probably encouraged missionary activities in the late 1840s.


Extraterritorial rights

Under the 1844
Treaty of Wanghia The Treaty of Wanghia (also known as the Treaty of Wangxia; Treaty of peace, amity, and commerce, between the United States of America and the Chinese Empire; ) was the first of the unequal treaties imposed by the United States on China. As per ...
, negotiated by U.S. minister
Caleb Cushing Caleb Cushing (January 17, 1800 – January 2, 1879) was an American Democratic politician and diplomat who served as a Congressman from Massachusetts and Attorney General under President Franklin Pierce. He was an eager proponent of territor ...
, American businessmen were restricted to the designated international districts in designated port cities. They were exempt from Chinese courts and were instead under the legal jurisdiction of American officials. These extraterritorial rights lasted until 1943. The treaty represented an American challenge to British dominance. China mades similar treaties with Japan and the Western powers in order to block a British takeover of the Chinese market. American missionaries were allowed anywhere.


Better travel opportunities

The opportunities for fast steamship travel from San Francisco improve dramatically in the second half of the 19th century. The first regular steamship route carried passengers, freight and mail to Yokohama in 1867. The transcontinental railroad opened in 1869 and service was expanded to China and the South Pacific. The US Post Office subsidized it to carry the mail. Only one line of steamers connected the U.S. to Japan in 1885, but by 1898 there were six. The trip to Yokohama took 22 days in 1886, and only 12 days in 1898, In the rates for passenger and freight continued to fall.


Missionaries in China

British Protestant churches took the lead in establishing a missionary role in China, especially with the China Inland Mission. The American program was smaller, but it had a certain impact on China, and even more so on the United States. Local government officials, all steeped in Confucianism, took a hostile view of Christianity, so converts were few and from the social fringe. Much more important was the impact on medicine and education. Peter Parker (1804–1888) in Canton (Guangzhou) was the most influential American missionary doctor. John Kerr (1824-1901) in 1859 established the Boji Hospital in Canton as one of the most influential hospitals in China. He established a medical school and prepared textbooks and journal articles to introduce Western medicine in depth. By 1937, British and American missionaries operated 300 church hospitals, with 21,000 beds, as well as 600 small clinics. The American missionary community could boast of hundreds of primary and secondary schools, topped off by 13 Protestant and three Catholic universities. The capstones were
Yenching University Yenching University (), was a university in Beijing, China, that was formed out of the merger of four Christian colleges between the years 1915 and 1920. The term "Yenching" comes from an alternative name for old Beijing, derived from its status ...
and
Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College (), founded in 1906, is a selective public medical college based in Dongcheng, Beijing, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First Class University Plan university. The school is tied to the Peking Un ...
. American missionaries had an audience at home who listen closely to their first-hand accounts. Around 1900 there were on average about 300 China missionaries on furlough back home, and they presented their case to church groups perhaps 30,000 times a year, reaching several million churchgoers. They were suffused with optimism that sooner or later China would be converted to Christianity. By the 1920s, however, the mainline Protestant churches realize that conversions were not happening, despite all the schools and hospitals. Furthermore, they had come to appreciate the ethical and cultural values of a different civilization, and began to doubt their own superiority. The mainline Protestant denomination missionary work declined rapidly. In their place came a growing role for Chinese Christians. Furthermore, there was an influx of fundamentalist, Pentecostal and Jehovah Witness missionaries who remained committed to the conversion process. Novelist
Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, Pulitze ...
(1892–1973) was raised in a bilingual environment in China by her missionary parents. China was the setting for many of her best-selling novels and stories, which explored the hardships, and the depth of humanity of the people she loved, and considered fully equal. After college in the United States, she returned to China as a Presbyterian missionary 1914 to 1932. She taught English at the college level. ''
The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in ''Sons'' (1932) ...
'' (1931) was her best-selling novel, and a popular movie. Along with numerous other books and articles she reached a large middle-class American audience with a highly sympathetic view of China. The Nobel Prize committee for literature hailed her, "for the notable works which pave the way to a human sympathy passing over widely separated racial boundaries and for the studies of human ideals which are a great and living art of portraiture." No one had more influence on American political thinking about foreign policy than Henry R. Luce (1898-1967), founder and publisher of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' and '' Fortune'' magazines from the 1920s to his death. He was born to missionary parents in China, and educated there until age 15. His Chinese experience made a deep impression, and his publications always gave large scale favorable attention to China. He gave some very strong support to Chiang Kai-shek in his battles against Mao Zedong. The politically most influential returning missionary was Walter Judd (1898-1994) Who served 10 years is a medical missionary in Fujian 1925-1931 and 1934–1938. On his return to Minnesota, he became an articulate spokesman denouncing the Japanese aggression against China, explaining it in terms of Japan's scarcity of raw materials and markets, population pressure, and the disorder and civil war in China. According to biographer Yanli Gao: :Judd was both a Wilsonian moralist and a Jacksonian protectionist, whose efforts were driven by a general Christian understanding of human beings, as well as a missionary complex. As he appealed simultaneously to American national interests and a popular Christian moral conscience, the Judd experience demonstrated that determined courageous advocacy by missionaries did in fact help to shape an American foreign policy needing to be awakened from its isolationist slumbers." Judd served two decades in Congress 1943-1962 as a Republican, where he was a highly influential spokesman on Asian affairs generally and especially China. He was a liberal missionary and a but a conservative anti-Communist congressman who defined the extent of American support for the Chiang Kai-shek regime.


1905 Chinese boycott

In response to severe restrictions on Chinese immigration to the United States, the overseas Chinese living in the United States organized a boycott whereby people in China refuse to purchase American products. The project was organized by a reform organization based in the United States, Baohuang Hui. Unlike the reactionary Boxers, these reformers were modernizers. The Manchu government had supported the Boxers, but these reformers—of whom Sun Yat-sen was representative, opposed the government. The boycott was put into effect by merchants and students in south and central China. It made only a small economic impact, because China bought few American products apart from Standard Oil's kerosene. Washington was outraged and treated the boycott as a Boxer-like violent attack, and demanded the Peking government stop it or else. President Theodore Roosevelt asked Congress for special funding for a naval expedition. Washington refused to consider softening the exclusion laws because it responded to deep-seated anti-Chinese prejudices that were widespread especially on the West Coast. It now began to denounce Chinese nationalism. The impact on the Chinese people, in China and abroad, was far-reaching. Jane Larson argues the boycott, "marked the beginning of mass politics and modern nationalism in China. Never before had shared nationalistic aspirations mobilized Chinese across the world in political action, joining the cause of Chinese migrants with the fate of the Chinese nation."


Art collecting

Americans first took notice of Chinese art in the late 18th century, and Japanese art a century later. Wealthy merchants used trading voyages to purchase items, and by the 1850s numerous collectors were active.


Asian students in the United States

Japan and China were sent thousands of students to study in the United States. As part of the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Qing government sent 120 students to New England to live and study for a decade, 1872–1882. However, far more students attended the missionary schools, which had a greater impact on their thinking. Furthermore, for every hundred Chinese students in the United States there were a thousand in Japan, which was closer, cheaper, and the language overlapped Chinese. Chinese students comprised a critical mass, organized themselves and were increasingly committed to a revolution in China. Sun Yat-sen actively recruited them, but Chinese diplomats in Japan tried to support the more conservative students and suppress the revolutionary impulses.


Dollar diplomacy

Dollar diplomacy was the policy of the Taft administration which wanted to minimize the use or threat of military force and instead use American banking power to create a tangible American interest in China that would limit the scope of the other powers, increase the opportunity for American trade and investment, and help maintain the Open Door of trading opportunities of all nations. In his Annual Message to Congress on December 3, 1912, Taft summarized the basic idea: :The diplomacy of the present administration has sought to respond to modern ideas of commercial intercourse. This policy has been characterized as substituting dollars for bullets. It is one that appeals alike to idealistic humanitarian sentiments, to the dictates of sound policy and strategy, and to legitimate commercial aims. Whereas Theodore Roosevelt wanted to conciliate Japan and help it neutralize Russia, Taft and his Secretary of State
Philander Knox Philander Chase Knox (May 6, 1853October 12, 1921) was an American lawyer, bank director and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Knox served in the Cabinet of three different presidents and represented Pennsylvania in the United States ...
ignored Roosevelt's policy and his advice. Dollar diplomacy was based on the false assumption that American financial interests could mobilize their potential power, and wanted to do so in East Asia. However the American financial system was not geared to handle international finance, such as loans and large investments, and had to depend primarily on London. The British also wanted an open door in China, but were not prepared to support American financial maneuvers. Finally, the other powers held territorial interests, including naval bases and designated geographical areas which they dominated inside China, while the United States refused anything of the kind. Bankers were reluctant, but Taft and Knox kept pushing them to invest. Most efforts were failures, until finally the United States forced its way into the Hukuang international railway loan. The loan was finally made by the so-called China Consortium in 1911, and helped spark a widespread " Railway Protection Movement" revolt against foreign investment that overthrew the Chinese government. The bonds caused no end of disappointment and trouble. As late as 1983, over 300 American investors tried, unsuccessfully, to force the government of China to redeem the worthless Hukuang bonds. When Woodrow Wilson became president in March 1913, he immediately canceled all support for Dollar diplomacy. Historians agree that Taft's Dollar diplomacy was a failure everywhere, In the Far East it alienated Japan and Russia, and created a deep suspicion among the other powers hostile to American motives.


Immigration

Asian immigration to US came in three phases. From 1850 to 1880 about 165,000 Chinese arrived, brought in to build railroads; most returned to China, and because few Chinese women arrived, the numbers of Chinese-Americans shrank. hostility was strong, with numerous violent attacks. As a result, most Chinese-Americans moved to ghettos called '' Chinatowns'' in larger cities. the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 drastically reduced immigration of unskilled laborers, but students and businessmen were allowed Large numbers of Japanese farmers went to Hawaii in the 1890s before it became part of the United States. In 1900–10, Japanese farm workers arrived in California and the West Coast. Public opinion in the West was quite hostile to the Chinese and Japanese, and numerous laws were passed that tried to stop or slow the inflow. After 1965 racial quotas were ended, and large numbers of Asians began arriving.


Restrictions

The main legal restriction was the
Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplo ...
, which largely prohibited the immigration of unskilled Chinese from 1882 to 1943. What did occur was largely illegal, especially claiming falsely to have been born in the United States. About 80 to 90 percent were men who left their wives and families behind in China and never saw them again, but they did send remittances. Japan was too powerful and prideful a nation after defeated Russian 1905 to tolerate legal restrictions. However president Theodore Roosevelt did make the
Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 The was an informal agreement between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan whereby Japan would not allow further emigration to the United States and the United States would not impose restrictions on Japanese immigrants already ...
such that the Japanese would not allow unskilled immigration to the United States. In the 1924 law immigration from Asia was almost completely stopped, except for allowing people who had been born in the United States.


Postwar immigration

World War II-era legislation and judicial rulings gradually increased the ability of Asian Americans to immigrate and become naturalized citizens. By 1960 there were 200,000
Filipino Americans Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...
; they numbered 2 million by 2000. The Communist takeovers in East Asia led to waves of refugees from conflicts occurring in Southeast Asia such as the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
.
Korean Americans Korean Americans are Americans of Koreans, Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian ...
came as war brides and orphans and many other roles, totalling about 800,000 by 1990. Asian American immigrants have a significant percentage of well-educated individuals who have already achieved professional status, a first among immigration groups. The most important factor was the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 which ended the main restrictions and quotas on Asians. The total grew by a multiple of 26 from 491,000 in 1960 to 12.8 million in 2014.Jie Zong & Jeanne Batalova
Asian Immigrants in the United States
Migration Policy Institute (January 6, 2016).
Asian Americans were the fastest-growing racial group between 2000 and 2010. By 2012, more immigrants came from Asia than from Latin America. In 2015, Pew Research Center found that from 2010 to 2015 more immigrants came from Asia than from Latin America, and that since 1965 Asians have made up a quarter of all immigrants. Asians have made up an increasing proportion of the foreign-born Americans: "In 1960, Asians represented 5 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population; by 2014, their share grew to 30 percent of the nation's 42.4 million immigrants." As of 2016, "Asia is the second-largest region of birth (after Latin America) of U.S. immigrants." In 2013, China surpassed Mexico as the top single country of origin for immigrants to the U.S. Asian immigrants "are more likely than the overall foreign-born population to be naturalized citizens"; in 2014, 59% of Asian immigrants had U.S. citizenship, compared to 47% of all immigrants. Postwar Asian immigration to the U.S. has been diverse: in 2014, 31% of Asian immigrants to the U.S. were from
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...
(predominately China and Korea); 27.7% were from
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
(predominately India); 32.6% were from
Southeastern Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
(predominately the Philippines and Vietnam) and 8.3% were from
Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...
. Increasingly Asian American students demanded university-level research and teaching into Asian history and the interaction with the United States. They supported
multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
but opposed affirmative action that amounted to an
Asian quota An Asian quota is a racial quota limiting the number of people of Asian descent in an establishment, a special case of '' numerus clausus''. It usually refers to alleged educational quotas in United States higher education admissions, specific ...
on their admission.


Cultural transmission


Cuisine

Asian immigrants to the U.S. brought along distinctive cuisines. Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean cuisines, for example, have become widely popular. There are several different Chinese cuisines that have become popular, such as Szechwan-Hunan, Fukien, and Yunnan. The preparation and presentation of rice, fish, and fresh produce to this diet is emphasized. In return American fast food restaurants have become popular in Asia. McDonald's opened its first outlet in Japan in 1971, Hong Kong in 1975, Singapore in 1979, Philippines in 1981, Malaysia in 1982, Taiwan in 1984, Thailand in 1985, South Korea in 1988, China in 1990, and Indonesia in 1999, Typically the corporation owns at least 50% of each franchise and local entrepreneurs the rest.


See also

* ''
Journal of American-East Asian Relations Journal of American-East Asian Relations (JAEAR), according to its website, is a "peer-reviewed quarterly journal of interdisciplinary historical, cross-cultural, and social science scholarship from all parts of the world," which began publication ...
'', a scholarly journal *
Northeast Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by American historian and political scient ...


U.S.

*
Foreign relations of the United States The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all UN member and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and the UN observer State of Palestine, the last of which the U.S. does not rec ...
*
History of Asian Americans Asian American history is the history of ethnic and racial groups in the United States who are of Asian descent. The term " Asian American" was an idea invented in the 1960s to bring together Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino Americans for strategi ...
, a chronology and guide to articles * Asian Americans * Asian American immigration history * Asian American political history *
Military history of Asian Americans Asian Americans, who are Americans of Asian descent, have fought and served on behalf of the United States since the American Revolutionary War. During the American Civil War Asian Americans fought for both the Union and the Confederacy. Afte ...
*
Chinese American history The history of Chinese Americans or the history of ethnic Chinese in the United States includes three major waves of Chinese immigration to the United States, beginning in the 19th century. Chinese immigrants in the 19th century worked in the C ...
* Cambodian American history * Filipino American history * Immigration history of Hmong Americans * Indian American history * Japanese American history * Korean American history * Vietnamese American history


China

* China containment policy * China Lobby * Chinese Americans *
Chinese Century The Chinese Century () is a neologism suggesting that the 21st century may be geoeconomics, geoeconomically or geopolitically dominated by the People's Republic of China, similar to how the "American Century" refers to the 20th century and the ...
*
Chinese espionage in the United States The United States has often accused the government of the People's Republic of China of attempting to unlawfully acquire U.S. military technology and classified information as well as trade secrets of U.S. companiesFinkle, J. Menn, J., Viswan ...
* China-United States trade war *
Taiwan–United States relations The bilateral relationship between Taiwan and the United States of America are the subject of the Japan-U.S. relations during Japanese colonial rule and China-U.S.relations before the government of the Republic of China (ROC) led by the K ...
*
U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue The U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) () was a high-level dialogue for the United States and China to discuss a wide range of regional and global strategic and economic issues between both countries. The establishment of the S&ED ...


Japan

*
Japan–United States relations International relations between Japan and the United States began in the late 18th and early 19th century with the diplomatic but Unequal treaty#Japan and Korea, force-backed missions of U.S. ship captains James Glynn and Matthew C. Perry to th ...


Notes


Further reading

* Bailey, Thomas A. '' A Diplomatic History Of The America People'' (9th ed. 1974
online
* Betts, Richard K. "Wealth, power, and instability: East Asia and the United States after the Cold War". ''International Security'' 18.3 (1993): 34–77
online
* Burns, Richard Dean, and Edward Moore Bennett, eds. ''Diplomats in crisis: United States-Chinese-Japanese relations, 1919-1941'' (1974) short articles by scholars from all three countries
online
* Church, Peter. ''A short history of South-East Asia'' (John Wiley & Sons, 2017). * Clyde, Paul H., and Burton F. Beers. ''The Far East: A History of Western Impacts and Eastern Responses, 1830-1975'' (1975
online 3rd edition 1958
* Cohen, Warren I. ed. ''Pacific Passage: The Study of American–East Asian Relations on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century'' (Columbia UP, 1996) 13 experts cover the historiography
online
* Cooper, Timothy S. "Anglo-Saxons and Orientals: British-American interaction over East Asia, 1898-1914". (PhD dissertation U of Edinburgh, 2017)
online
* Dennett, Tyler. ''Americans in Eastern Asia'' (1922
online free
* Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, and Anne Walthall. ''East Asia: A cultural, social, and political history'' (Cengage Learning, 2013)
online
* Flynn, Matthew J. ''China Contested: Western Powers in East Asia'' (2006), for secondary schools * Green, Michael J. ''By more than providence: grand strategy and American power in the Asia Pacific since 1783'' (2017) a major scholarly surve
excerpt
* Hall, D.G.E. ''History of South East Asia'' (Macmillan International Higher Education, 1981)
online 1955 edition
* Holcombe, Charles. ''A History of East Asia'' (2d ed. Cambridge UP, 2017)
excerpt
* Iriye, Akira. ''Across the Pacific : an inner history of American-East Asian relations'' (1967
online
* Isaacs, Harold R. ''Scratches on Our Minds: American Images of China and India'' (1958
online
* Jensen, Richard, Jon Davidann, and Yoneyuki Sugita, eds. ''Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century'' (Praeger, 2003), 304 p
online review
* Kurashige, Lon, ed. ''Pacific America: Histories of Transoceanic Crossings'' (2017
excerpt
* Mackerras, Colin. ''Eastern Asia: An Introductory History'' (Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1992). * Macnair, Harley F. & Donald Lach. ''Modern Far Eastern International Relations'' (2nd ed 1955
1950 edition online free
780pp; focus on 1900-1950 * Matray, James I. ed. ''East Asia and the United States: An Encyclopedia of relations since 1784'' (2 vol. Greenwood, 2002)
excerpt v 2
* May, Ernest R.; Thomson, James C., Jr., eds. '' American-East Asian Relations: A Survey'' (Harvard UP, 1972
online
* Miller, David Y. ''Modern East Asia: An Introductory History'' (Routledge, 2007) * Pletcher, David M. ''The Diplomacy of Involvement: American Economic Expansion Across the Pacific, 1784-1900'' (2001). * Ricklefs, Merle C. ''A History of Modern Indonesia: c. 1300 to the Present'' (Macmillan, 1981). * Raghavan, Srinath. ''Fierce Enigmas: A History of the United States in South Asia'' (2018
excerpt
* Shewmaker, Kenneth E. "Forging the 'Great Chain': Daniel Webster and the Origins of American Foreign Policy toward East Asia and the Pacific, 1841-1852". ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' 129.3 (1985): 225–259
online
* Thomson, James et al. ''Sentimental Imperialists - The American Experience in East Asia'' (1981) scholarly history over 200 years. * Thorne, Christopher G. ''The limits of foreign policy; the West, the League, and the Far Eastern crisis of 1931-1933'' (1972
online
* Tyrrell, Ian. "Looking eastward: Pacific and global perspectives on American history in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries". ''Japanese Journal of American Studies'' 18 (2007): 41–57
online
* Van Alstyne, Richard W. ''The United states and East Asia'' (1973) short survey by scholar * Zabriskie, E.H. ''American-Russian Rivalry in the Far East: A Study in Diplomacy and Power Politics, 1895-1914'' (1946
online


China

* Chang, Gordon H. ''Fateful Ties: A History of America's Preoccupation with China''. (Harvard UP, 2015)
Excerpt
* Chang, Gordon H. ''Friends and Enemies: The United States, China, and the Soviet Union, 1948–1972'' (Stanford UP, 1990). * Christensen, Thomas J. ''In the eyes of the dragon: China views the world'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999). * Chung, Jae Ho. "The Rise of China and East Asia: A New Regional Order on the Horizon?". ''Chinese Political Science Review'' 1.1 (2016): 47–59
online
* Cohen, Warren I. ''America's Response to China: A History of Sino-American Relations'' (5th ed. 2010) * Dulles, Foster Rhea. ''China and America: The Story of Their Relations Since 1784'' (1981), general survey
online
* Dulles, Foster Rhea. ''American policy toward Communist China, 1949-1969'' (1972
online
* Fairbank, John K. ''China Perceived'' (1974) * Feis, Herbert. ''The China Tangle'' (1967), diplomacy during World War I
online
* Fenby, Jonathan and Trey McArver. ''The Eagle and the Dragon: Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and the Fate of US/China Relations'' (2019) * * Foot, Rosemary. ''The Practice of Power: US Relations with China since 1949'' (1995). * Gedalecia, David. "Letters From the Middle Kingdom: The Origins of America's China Policy", ''Prologue'', 34.4 (Winter, 2002), pp. 260–73. * Goldstein, Jonathan et al. eds. '' America Views China: American Images of China Then and Now'' ( Lehigh Univ Press) 14 topical essays by scholars. * Haddad, John R. ''America's First Adventure in China: Trade, Treaties, Opium, and Salvation'' (2013) covers 1784 to 1868. * Hunt, Michael H. ''The Making of a Special Relationship: The United States and China to 1914'' (1983), A standard scholarly history * Jespersen, T. Christopher. ''American Images of China, 1931-1949'' (1999
excerpt
* Johnson, Kendall A. ''The New Middle Kingdom: China and the Early American Romance of Free Trade'' (Johns Hopkins UP, 2017). * Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''The history of early relations between the United States and China, 1784–1844'' (1917
online
* Li, Jing. ''China's America: The Chinese View the United States, 1900–2000''. (State University of New York Press, 2011) * McLean, David. "American nationalism, the China myth, and the Truman doctrine: The question of accommodation with Peking, 1949–50". ''Diplomatic History'' 10.1 (1986): 25-42. * MacMillan, Margaret. ''Nixon and Mao: the week that changed the world'' (2008). * Madsen, Richard. ''China and the American Dream'' (1994) * Mann, James. ''About Face: A History of America's Curious Relationship with China, from Nixon to Clinton'' (2000). * Mitter, Rana. ''Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937–1945'' (2013
excerpt
* Oksenberg, Michel and Robert B. Oxnam, eds. ''Dragon and Eagle'' (1978), * Pomfret, John. ''The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present'' (2016

* Purifoy, Lewis M. ''Harry Truman's China policy: McCarthyism and the diplomacy of hysteria, 1947-1951'' (New Viewpoints, 1976). * Riccards, Michael P. ''The Presidency and the Middle Kingdom'' (2000) * Rose, Robert S. et al. ''Re-examining the Cold War: U.S.-China Diplomacy, 1954–1973'' (2002) * Schaller, Michael. "FDR and the 'China Question in ''FDR's World'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) pp. 145–174. * Schaller, Michael. ''The U.S. Crusade in China, 1938-1945'' (1979) * Song, Yuwu, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Chinese-American Relations'' (McFarland, 2006) * Sutter, Robert G. ''U.S.-Chinese Relations: Perilous Past, Pragmatic Present'' (2010). * Sutter, Robert G. ''Historical Dictionary of United States-China Relations'' (2005). * Varg, Paul A. "Sino‐American Relations Past and Present". ''Diplomatic History'' 4.2 (1980): 101–112
online
* Vevier, Charles. "The Open Door: An Idea in Action, 1906-1913". ''Pacific Historical Review'' 24.1 (1955): 49–62
online
* Vogelmann, Jörg. ''The ascent of China as a new superpower and the relationship with the hegemonic United States: Rough power politics or peaceful economic cooperation?''(GRIN Verlag, 2008). * Wang, Dong. ''The United States and China: A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present'' (2013) *Wang, Dong. "Grand Strategy, Power Politics, and China's Policy toward the United States in the 1960s", ''Diplomatic History'' 42:1 (April 2017): 265–287; * Westad, Odd Arne, "The Sources of Chinese Conduct: Are Washington and Beijing Fighting a New Cold War?", '' Foreign Affairs'', vol. 98, no. 5 (September / October 2019), pp. 86–95. * *Zhang, Biwu. ''Chinese Perceptions of the U.S.: An Exploration of China's Foreign Policy Motivations'' (Lexington Books; 2012) 266 pages.


Japan

* Asada, Sadao. ''From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States'' (Naval Institute Press, 2013). *Dahl, Elizabeth. "The Implications of Japan Bashing for US-Japan Relations". ''Swords & Plowshares: A Journal of International Relations'' (1999). * Davidann, Jon. ''Cultural diplomacy in US-Japanese relations, 1919-1941'' (Springer, 2007). * Dian, Matteo. ''The Evolution of the US-Japan Alliance: the eagle and the chrysanthemum'' (Chandos Publishing, 2014). * Dulles, Foster Rhea. ''Yankees and Samurai: America's Role in the Emergence of Modern Japan, 1791–1900'' (1965) * Harris, Townsend, ''The complete journal of Townsend Harris, first American consul general and minister to Japan'' (1930
online free
primary source * Hook, Glenn D. et al. ''Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics and Security'' (2011
excerpt
* Johnson, Sheila K. ''American attitudes toward Japan, 1941-1975'' (1975
online
* LaFeber, Walter. ''The Clash: A History of US–Japan Relations'' (W.W. Norton, 1997) * Nimmo, William F. ''Stars and Stripes Across the Pacific: The United States, Japan, and Asia/Pacific Region, 1895-1945'' (Greenwood, 2001)
excerpt


Historiography

* Aruga, Natsuki, "Viewing American History from Japan" in * Cohen, Warren I. "The History of American-East Asian Relations: Cutting Edge of the Historical Profession". ''Diplomatic History''. (1985) 9#2: 101–112. * Cohen, Warren I. ed. ''Pacific Passage: The Study of American–East Asian Relations on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century'' (Columbia UP, 1996) 13 experts cover the historiography * Dower, John. 'Occupied Japan as History and Occupation History as Politics", ''Journal of Asian Studies'' (1975) 34#2 485–504. * Hall, John Whitney. ''Japanese History: New Dimensions of Approach and Understanding'' (1961
online
* Pederson, William D. ed. ''A Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt'' (2011
online
FDR and China & India pp. 590–611; on Japan pp. 612–35. * Reischauer, Edwin. ''My Life Between Japan And America'' (1986)
online
* Ricard, Serge, ed. ''A Companion to Theodore Roosevelt'' (2011) and Japan, pp 368–41
online
* Roberts, Priscilla. "New Perspectives on Cold War History from China", ''Diplomatic History'' 41:2 (April 2017
online
* Xia, Yafeng and Zhi Liang. "China's Diplomacy toward the United States in the Twentieth Century: A Survey of the Literature", ''Diplomatic History'' 42:1 (April 2017): 241–264.


External links


Guide to Countries, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Asia-United States relations Foreign relations of the United States