# ’90s Rewind | America’s China Gamble

- Link: https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/2025/05/90s-rewind-americas-china-gamble/
- Published: 2025-05-07T13:34:06-04:00

## Expanding economic ties and political tension set the stage for 21st century rivalry

China’s violent Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 marked a turning point in US-
China relations. After two decades of slowly but steadily nurturing friendly relations,
the United States would choose to develop economic ties without insisting on democratic
reforms. The prevailing hope was that China’s economic growth would inevitably lead
to political change. That hope, however, was never fully realized. Today, China 
is America’s largest trading partner and yet its biggest geopolitical rival.

In this episode of None Of The Above’s ‘90s Rewind miniseries, the [Institute for Global Affairs](https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/)’
Mark Hannah explores the origins of 21st century US-China rivalry. He is joined 
by modern China historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom of the University of California, Irvine.
NPR’s Deborah Amos and Ambassador Thomas Pickering return to provide insights and
commentary.

**Listen Here:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/none-of-the-above/id1460825733)
| [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iuve4jjcsdnlwocy6rks3cknywe)
|  [Libsyn](http://noneoftheaboveegfpodcast.libsyn.com/) | [Radio Public](https://radiopublic.com/none-of-the-above-60QLD7)
| [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/noneoftheaboveegfpodcast) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6ffucGA2w22LtrJ72xIZJv)
| [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/none-of-the-above) |  [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/None-of-the-Above-p1219963/)
| [RSS](http://noneoftheaboveegfpodcast.libsyn.com/libsyn)[](https://www.noneoftheabovepodcast.org/episodes/s2e16%20guest)

![](https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/JeffreyWasserstrom.
png)

**Jeffrey Wasserstrom** is Chancellor’s Professor of History at UC Irvine. His area
of focus includes modern Chinese cultural history and student protest movements.
He has written or contributed to more than ten books. His most recent books are 
_Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink_ and _China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs
to Know_. His new book _The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asia’s Struggle Against Autocracy
and Beijing_ is due in June 2025.

![](https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/D_Amos.png)

**Deborah Amos** is a Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence at Princeton University.
Over the course of her award-winning career, she served as an international correspondent
for NPR, ABC, and PBS. Her reporting has largely focused on the Middle East and 
refugees. She was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

![](https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/T_Pickering.
png)

**Thomas Pickering** is a retired diplomat who served as US ambassador to the United
Nations, India, and Russia throughout the 1990s. He also served as Undersecretary
of State for Political Affairs under President Clinton from 1997 to 2000. He achieved
the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest in American diplomacy.