Congress and China Policy: an analysis of China bills

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of China bills introduced and passed in Congress in 1973–2005. Three important findings emerge. First, many more punitive China bills were introduced and passed in the House than in the Senate. Second, the two congressional parties agreed with each other most of the time on roll call votes related to China. Third, the major events in US–China relations largely determined the ebb and flow of China bills. Negative binomial regression analysis sheds further light on the dynamic of China policymaking on Capitol Hill. A Republican majority in the House facing off with a Democratic president brought about many more China bills. Also, there appears to be a significant gap between public opinion and congressional attitudes on China policy. Finally, the Tiananmen Incident has had a profound impact on Congress, making it much more active and punitive in China policy since then. I conclude the paper by briefly discussing the policy implications of my findings.

Only in the case of Communist China has the Congress played a major role over a long period of time to confine narrowly the president's means of maneuver.1 ^?1. Herbert N. Carroll, ‘The Congress and national security policy’, in David B. Truman, ed., The Congress and America's Failure (Englewood, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965), p. 161. View all notes