The twelve essays in this volume underscore the similarities between Chinese and American approaches to bilateral diplomacy and between their perceptions of each other’s policy-making motivations. Much of the literature on U.S.–China relations posits that each side was motivated either by ideologically informed interests or by ideological assumptions about its counterpart. But as these contributors emphasize, newly accessible archives suggest rather that both Beijing and Washington developed a responsive and tactically adaptable foreign policy. Each then adjusted this policy in response to changing international circumstances and changing assessments of its counterpart’s policies. Motivated less by ideology than by pragmatic national security concerns, each assumed that the other faced similar considerations.

This enthralling volume is a product of current Sino–U.S. scholarly co-operation. It makes full use of recently released Chinese and American official archives, and provides a fascinating and instructive account of how two mutually hostile powers nevertheless found it possible—indeed imperative—to communicate with each other.
-- Victor Funnell Asian Affairs