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to reconsider its policy of importing non-action movies.
The relatively stable policies of the CFEIC do not mean they are rigid and lack flexibility. While leaving the basic policy of making everything politically safe intact, the CFEIC modified its policies to suit the development of the movie industry and the needs of the audiences whose level of appreciation is ever rising. During the 1981 film week, there was hardly any movie which reflected contemporary American life. As the situation changed, some movies reflecting contemporary American life began to be introduced. In the film week held in 1985, the United States could present what it considered the best of its movies: On Golden Pond, Kramer vs Kramer, The Turning Point and A Coal Miner's Daughter.
Consequences
The previous discussion of Sino-American arts exchanges has provided a picture of how such exchanges were overwhelmingly dominated by political considerations by both governments, though sometimes the goals of the governments and the non-governmental-artist sector merged with each other unconsciously. Nonetheless, these exchanges produced unanticipated consequences. As arts exchanges were part of the broader framework of the Sino-American relationship since 1979, when exchanges were institutionalized, and the number dramatically increased, an analysis of the effect of these exchanges on the general relationship between the two countries is necessary. In this context, the frequent travels of performing groups, arts exhibitions and specialists between the two countries did create a feeling of intimacy in the period of 1979 and 1981.
Through the exchanges, the American government conveyed its intention to have a closer relationship with China. Compared with economic and technological relations, arts exchanges were only secondary in importance to both governments. They were even less important compared with strategic considerations. However, ties in the cultural sphere were something that Chinese and American leaders had to give a thought to, because they were expressions of a sound relationship which political leaders of both countries wanted to claim. Moreover, Chinese and American political leaders also needed cultural exchanges to maintain such a relationship. These exchanges might, too, be intended as a showcase to the Soviet Union in the triangular game of superpower