In 1899, the United States declared the Open Door policy, proclaiming its commitment to the preservation of China's national integrity. A year later, the United States helped to quash the Boxer rebellion in Peking, a revolt which had threatened American business interests. Of these two contradictory aims displayed by U.S. foreign policy—generous friendship and aggressive self-interest—it is the latter that has prevailed and defined American policy toward China, maintains Chinese historian Arnold Xiangze Jiang.

The United States and China is the first comprehensive study in English of the tumultuous history of Sino-American relations from a Chinese perspective. Jiang critically examines U.S. foreign policy toward China from the eighteenth century to the Reagan-Deng years, illustrating how America's presence, influence, and pressure have shaped the history and politics of China. At the same time, Jiang's account is an illuminating and insightful synthesis of Chinese historiography since 1949—history as it has been taught in the People's Republic of China.

Arnold Xiangze Jiang, who holds a doctorate from the University of Washington, is professor of history at Zongshan University. He is the author of The Nein Rebellion.