美国国会对中国政策的区域矛盾

Sectionalism in Congressional Roll Call Voting on China

区域矛盾对美国政治有着深远的影响,该问题在美国国会表现得最为明显。以中美关系为例,作者分析了区域矛盾在国会形成的原因和机制,认为选民利益决定了美国各区域在中美关系上的结盟或对立。分析结果表明:在延长最惠国待遇和中国"入世"这两个问题上,美国国内的区域矛盾基本上以密西西比河为分界线,形成东西对抗的局面。在中国台湾问题上,尤其是在1997年和2000年的两个有关中国台湾的法案上,美国国内的区域矛盾不再是东西部对立,而是共和党占主导的地区与民主党占主导的地区相互对立。作者最后讨论了分析结果对中国外交决策者的借鉴意义。

Sectionalism has had profound impact on American politics, and it is manifested most frequently and consistently in Congress. By using the case of U.S.-China r elationship, the author argues that constituency interests underpin sectional al ignment on the China policy of the U.S. The Mississippi River was the dividing l ine when it comes to MFN and WTO. Yet the East-versus-West sectional alignment was not found on roll call votes related to U.S.-Taiwan relations. Instead, se ctional conflict on the U.S. relations with Taiwan closely resembled the red-ve rsus-blue electoral maps in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The autho r finally concludes with a brief discussion on its implications for China’s for eign policy making.