参议院外交委员会与肯尼迪时期的美国对华政策

Senate Foreign Relations Committee and American Policy towards China in the Kennedy Administration

本文以参议院外交委员会为着眼点,讨论该委员会以及参议院在肯尼迪时期对华政策制订过程中扮演的角色。本文认为,尽管肯尼迪上台后有对既定对华政策进行修正的意向,并得到参议院外交委员会大多数人的支持,但就整体而言,参议院对中国仍怀有很深的敌意。如果肯尼迪在那时提出与中国和解,要冒的政治风险太大。作者对“若肯尼迪不遇刺并实现连任,美国对华政策在其任期内可能会发生重大修正”的假说提出了质疑。

This article discusses the role of U.S. Senate and its Foreign Relations Committee in shaping U.S. policy towards China in the Kennedy administration. The article holds that in spite of the fact that Kennedy, after assuming power, intended to modify the existing policy towards China and was supported by most of the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in this regard, the Senate's hostility towards China was still too strong on the whole. If Kennedy had raised the issue of detente with China, he would have been running grave political risks. The author challenges the hypothesis that “if Kennedy had not been assassinated and had been reelected, American policy towards China might have seen significant changes.”