China obtains the best security environment ever as the Cold War ended. Its economy continues to grow. China¡¦s rise becomes a reality. Along with China's enhancement on economy and military strengths, Beijing shows more confidence in dealing with international affairs. Zhongnanhai leaders keep stressing that China will strive for an international environment in favor of peace and development, and expressing to the U.S. that China is willing to be cooperative on regional and international issues, which wins praise from President Bush. China and the U.S. both carry on some strategic adjustment. Moreover, President Bush becomes the first U.S. president who visited China three times in its two tenures in office. President Bush and Hu Jintao have gradually established personal friendship. Chinese leaders have long regarded the pursuing of country¡¦s unification as the most important and prior political goal. In China's leadership, both reformists and hardliners take ¡§Taiwan issue" as sovereignty matter, the core interest of China¡¦s national security. Jiang Zemin used to emphasize that ¡§Taiwan issue is the most sensitive and most crucial issue in Sino-U.S. relations.¡¨ Every time when Hu Jintao met with President Bush, Hu applauded the U.S.¡¦s commitments on ¡§One-China¡¨ policy, three Joint Communiques, and ¡§opposition¡¨ of Taiwan independence. Bush administration¡¦s policies toward Taiwan Strait security have also shifted from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity gradually. China-U.S. relationship has been promoted to its best status in second half of 2003 due to the intensification of international anti-terrorism cooperation and Beijing¡¦s role in hosting Six Party Talks. The atmosphere of Taiwan-U.S. relationship, however, has been not so good since President Chen Shui-bian¡¦s second term because Taiwan repeatedly pushes Washington D.C.¡¦s bottom lines. Bush administration made several friendly decisions toward Taiwan in its early stage after resuming powers, including providing better treatments for Taiwan senior leaders when they visited or transited the U.S. But when President Bush said he would do ¡§whatever it takes to defend Taiwan¡¨ in early 2001, the White House and U.S. State Department quickly repeated that the U.S. policies remain unchanged. It shows that the risks for military conflict in Taiwan Strait are high and that the U.S. does not want Taiwan to have too much expectation. Washington, D.C. would avoid getting into military conflicts in Taiwan Strait for its own interests. In addition, Bush administration continues to aware Taiwan that the U.S. and Taiwan could cooperate in some security affairs, but the U.S., out of its strategy consideration and moral responsibility, would be the sole country which could assist democratic Taiwan. This dissertation would mainly explore China¡¦s rise, and in this presupposition, the Bush Administration¡¦s Policies on Cross-Strait Relations. The dissertation comprises 7 chapters. Besides introduction and conclusion in the first and the seventh chapter respectively, the second chapter would study China¡¦s rise and its challenges to the U.S. and the U.S.¡¦s security strategies in Asia-Pacific region, while the third chapter discussing Bush administration¡¦s policies toward China, the fourth chapter analyzing China¡¦s policies toward Bush administration, the fifth chapter looking into the U.S. factors in China¡¦s policies toward Taiwan, and the sixth chapter reviewing cross-strait relations during Bush administration. To sum up, Bush administration emphasizes stability across the Taiwan Strait. Neither side of the Taiwan Strait can take unilateral actions to change the status quo, which is defined by the U.S., and the solution of cross-strait issues must be through peaceful ways. To respond of China¡¦s rise, the U.S. continues to underline its relationship with allies in Asia-Pacific. At the same time, Bush administration makes more concrete steps in strengthening U.S.-Taiwan military cooperation, while U.S.-China military exchanges in progress but with limitation.

Despite Australia enjoying good relations with both the United States and China at the moment, the long-term prospects are uncertain due to US-China strategic rivalry. The aim of this thesis is to examine Australia’s ability to continue strong relations with both countries over the long-term. The thesis concludes that Australia may be able to maintain good relations with the US and China in the long run despite US-China strategic rivalry. The strategic competition only increases the prospect of conflict; it does not mean a US-China conflict is bound to happen. Although the risks of a US-China military confrontation over Taiwan are real, the chances are small due to America’s continued strategic presence in the region and its military preponderance. If a Sino-US conflict were to occur, Australia would most likely side with the US despite China being economically significant to Australia. The United States is also critically important to Australia’s economic interests and, ultimately, Australia’s national security depends on its alliance with the US. Survival is the foremost goal for a state in the anarchical international system and security interests outweigh economic interests in importance in a time of crisis.

Despite Australia enjoying good relations with both the United States and China at the moment, the long-term prospects are uncertain due to US-China strategic rivalry. The aim of this thesis is to examine Australia’s ability to continue strong relations with both countries over the long-term. The thesis concludes that Australia may be able to maintain good relations with the US and China in the long run despite US-China strategic rivalry. The strategic competition only increases the prospect of conflict; it does not mean a US-China conflict is bound to happen. Although the risks of a US-China military confrontation over Taiwan are real, the chances are small due to America’s continued strategic presence in the region and its military preponderance. If a Sino-US conflict were to occur, Australia would most likely side with the US despite China being economically significant to Australia. The United States is also critically important to Australia’s economic interests and, ultimately, Australia’s national security depends on its alliance with the US. Survival is the foremost goal for a state in the anarchical international system and security interests outweigh economic interests in importance in a time of crisis.

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This senior thesis is an exploration of Chinese soft power and the implications on the future of US-China relations. The first chapter looks into the objectives/goals to attain by using soft power set by the Chinese government followed by the exploration of methods that the Chinese have used to further their goals. The second chapter takes a look at the implicit and explicit successes of soft power in the peripheral regions of China and neighboring countries. The third chapter explores the negative and positive results that have come from China's soft power efforts. And the final chapter covers the fluctuation in American soft power and the effect China's soft power will have on global stability. The paper concludes with policy suggestions for the United States if it wants to protect national interests against China's soft power in the future.

The U.S. has enjoyed global hegemonic power for over 70 years and even more so after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, some political scientists argue that it is descending and the evidence lies in the increasing power of China. An imbalance of power in the international structure has the ability to result in different outcomes. The realist theory suggests that a conflict between the U.S. and China is unavoidable, the liberal theory suggests that the economic dependency between the two makes conflict less possible, while the constructivist theory suggests that the outcome depends on the reaction of the leaders and social change. This study asks what the reaction of the President of the U.S. is to the rise of China to find out the result of this hegemonic power imbalance. By using discourse analysis, this study has analyzed the remarks of President Trump from the period of January 2017 to November 2017 in search of his reaction to the rise of China. The results of this study show that President Trump divides the world in two parts making the U.S. the protagonist and the rest of the world, including China, the antagonist in his discourse as his reaction. Due to this reaction, Trump takes nationalistic and protectionist measures against China.

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This thesis analyzes the current disputes between the United States and China over the exchange rate of the Chinese currency renminbi using an International Political Economy (IPE) analysis. Monetary relations are not mere economic affairs, but bear geopolitical implications. Money is power. Money is politics. The pursuit of monetary power is an important part of great power politics. Based on this assertion, the thesis studies past cases of monetary power struggles between the United States and the Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Japan, and the European Union (EU), respectively. The thesis then investigates the dollar’s status as the dominant international reserve currency in the current international monetary system, as well as the power that this unique status can generate and provide. The dollar’s monetary hegemony has become the main characteristic of the current international monetary system and an important power source for continued U.S. hegemony. The dollar’s hegemony and the asymmetrical interdependency between the dollar and the renminbi are the source and the key basis for the recent U.S.-China monetary disagreements. The U.S.-China monetary disputes reflect not only each country's respective domestic interests and perceived benefits, but also the monetary power struggle between the two biggest global economies. Predictions are also entertained for the future monetary relations between the two countries, as well as the geopolitical implications that this relationship may have for the U.S.-China bilateral relationship in coming decades.

Previous research has shown that Taiwan's military spending is affected either by China's military buildup or the US's military pipeline. This study investigates whether it is also true an ongoing US-China relationship has dynamic effects. Three major findings are obtained from the statistical analyses. First and foremost, the level of US-China conflict has a contemporaneous positive effect on Taiwan's military spending. Second, the analyses also indicate that the volatility of US-China relations has negative effects on Taiwan's military spending. This finding suggests that instability in US-China relations will prompt Taiwan to decrease its military spending due to a higher amount of perceived security on the one hand, and Taiwan wants to avoid further provoking China on the other. Third, analyses indicate that an error correction model fares better than a simple budgetary incremental model in explaining the re-equilibrating effects of GNP growth on Taiwan's military spending. Overall, the results demonstrate the interplay of domestic and international constraints and may help to predict what will be the expected military spending when Taiwan's economy changes. I suggest that Taiwan's military spending is likely to be influenced by US-China relations as well as by foreign investment and domestic economic constraints as long as the United States policy toward the Taiwan problem remains unchanged.