{"id":699,"date":"2010-09-29T02:28:36","date_gmt":"2010-09-29T00:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=699"},"modified":"2015-04-27T22:03:46","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T20:03:46","slug":"the-strange-marriage-called-chimerica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/the-strange-marriage-called-chimerica\/","title":{"rendered":"The strange marriage called Chimerica"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was my first real encounter<\/span> with the Chinese. Sure, I’d known a few Chinese people; I’d learned some Chinese history in college; I’d read a lot about China in the news; and Chinese food had always been my favorite. But it was a different experience altogether to go to the Chinese embassy<\/span> with my visa application<\/span> in hand \u2014 not knowing what would happen.<\/p>\n

I had two black marks<\/span> against me: my citizenship (American) and my profession (journalist). To go as a tourist, I had some questions to answer and some convincing<\/span> to do. In the end, they let me in. I just had to pay four times the usual visa fee<\/span> and wait a week longer than the citizens of any other country.<\/p>\n

The word is “symbiosis”<\/h2>\n

China and the United States have a puzzling<\/span> relationship \u2014 a marriage of convenience<\/span>, a symbiosis. Their size and influence put them in a category all their own<\/span> (what Scottish historian Niall Ferguson calls \u201cChimerica<\/a>\u201d). They help each other to maintain this status \u2014 China by holding America’s debt<\/span>, America by moving most of its manufacturing<\/span> to China. Yet the two superpowers are deeply suspicious<\/span> of each other. Each is the main focus of the other’s espionage efforts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The US has tried to contain<\/span> China’s progress by placing an embargo on high technology. Until the late 1990s, this included things like computer processors that could theoretically be used to guide<\/span> missiles<\/span>. China fought back by acquiring<\/span> Western technology through other sources and copying it. A loosening<\/span> of the sanctions now makes it possible for us, ironically, to buy (Western-designed) processors made in China.<\/p>\n

A lot in common<\/h2>\n

Often when two people or entities<\/span> are suspicious of each other, it’s because they share a lot of similarities they don’t want to acknowledge<\/span>. Think about this:<\/p>\n