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National Security Adviser of the U.S., Brent Scowcroft's most recent clandestine trip to Beijing, China, on behalf of U.S. President George W. Bush, delicately ignored the terrible underside of post-June Chinese politics--the waves of arrests that have punctuated life in urban China over this past half year. Ironically, Scowcroft's latest visit came at the height of the largest wave of detentions, since August. Of particular irony, Scowcroft's timing may not have been entirely to Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's advantage. Ever since June, the perpetrators of the Beijing massacre have been caught up in internal disputes over how severe the purges of dissidents ought to be. Deng Xiaoping and his immediate allies are using the less bellicose rhetoric in an effort to reduce the number of arrests. The net result is that the campaign of repression against intellectuals has moved forward in fits and starts, with arrests coming in sporadic waves.

This article describes the relations of China and the U.S. as of June 1, 1991. According to the author, the relations of China and the U.S. are in disarray. China's current leaders complain of continued U.S. sanctions, the refusal of the administration of U.S. President George Bush to engage in high-level official exchanges and the deterioration in the quality of consultations on matters of common strategic interest. They protest President Bush's April 1991 meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. They believe the United States has sought to restrain other leading industrialized nations in the Group of Seven from restoring relations with China to the levels that existed prior to the events in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Washington is also accused of discouraging a rapid and full restoration of lending to China by international financial institutions. And behind these charges are more deep-seated fears--of another era of U.S. global hegemonism and a U.S. design to undermine China's communist regime. Meanwhile, at least among key opinion molders in Congress and the U.S. media, China's leaders are scorned and disdained. Memories of the June 4, 1989, massacre in Beijing remain vivid in the U.S. mind.

Reports on political and social developments in the United States. Political skills shown by the Democrats in the U.S. Congress as the country prepares for war abroad and suffers an economic recession at home; Establishment of the Marie Syrkin Fellowship in Letters in Jerusalem in memory of the late poet, essayist, teacher and Zionist leader Marie Syrkin; Career achievements of John B. Judis, a contributing editor of the magazine; Heritage Foundation's report advocating that the U.S. re-establish military ties with China.

Reports on recent development in the U.S. politics and government. Rebuff over Secretary of State James Baker's claim that the visit by Assistant Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and national security adviser Brent Scowcroft was the first time that high-level U.S. officials go to China; Republican national chairman Lee Atwater's demand for a Washington, D.C. gym to replace its usual piped-in aerobic disco music with tapes of his own jam sessions with B.B. King and Isaac Hayes.

Explores how China has skillfully worked its way back from diplomatic isolation in recent months and considers the challenges the country faces in light of a changed world. Impact of the Tiananmen Square events; Effects of shrinking Soviet power on China; US President George Bush's New World Order; Chinese reaction to the new Soviet-American relationship.

The article focuses on issues concerning the United States' decision to sell 150 F-16 fighter aircraft to Taiwan. In an election year, approval for the sale of expensive weapons to Taiwan has a lot to do with U.S. President George Bush's need to win votes at home. But, though some of his reasons may be suspect, Bush is right to show China a warning flag. China used to be able to present itself to the West as the cuddlier sort of communist. But with the only competition now coming from the Cubas, Vietnams and North Koreas, that time is gone. For most of the 1980s China was militarily modest, economically adventurous and engagingly open to the outside world.

This article explores the U.S. policy toward China. It was surprising that when a reception was given in Washington for departing Chinese Ambassador Han Xu, only two American figures of note attended. The Chinese government is acutely aware of the indefensibility of the action of its army in handling student protestors at Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government simply denies that the incident happened, insisting that all the shooting that was done by the army had been done in self-defense. In defending his government, Ambassador Han noted that his government has stated that a mob led by a small number of people prevented the normal conduct of the affairs of state.