Primary Sources from Post-Cold War Engagement with China

Clinton on Meeting Jiang, 1993

Context: In November 1993, President Bill Clinton met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin ahead of a summit in Seattle for their first face-to-face meeting. After the meeting, Clinton addressed reporters, offering an early outline of his China policy of combining engagement with continued pressure on human rights, trade practices, and nuclear issues. The exchange foreshadows the engagement strategy that would play out over the rest of the decade.