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been almost monopolized by the government because of its suspicion of Western culture. Though Sino-American arts exchanges were exclusively handled by the non-governmental sector" in the period 1972-8, due to the absence of diplomatic relation between the two countries, the Chinese government closely supervised these activities and the non-governmental sector in China in fact existed only in name. Throughout the period between 1979 and 1981, the non-governmental sector in China was more genuinely active in Sino-American arts exchanges. This is because, while the government adopted a policy to encourage contacts with the United States, its capacity to handle the dramatically increased exchanges was not raised. Furthermore, its incapacity to finance a substantial number of exchanges with the U.S. and to finance the modernization of the arts was also an invitation for the non-governmental sector to take over some exchange programmes, as the non-governmental sector was able both to raise funds at home, and to gain financial support from individual Americans or American organizations. From the handling of the exchange events one can clearly see its increasing independence from government supervision.
However, although Sino-American cultural relations were nurtured by top political leaders of both countries and were one aspect of a rapidly increasing general relationship in the first three years of diplomatic normalization, the decline in arts exchanges in 1982 did not come unexpectedly. The campaign against "bourgeois liberalization", which according to Hu Qiaomu, a party theorist and a mastermind of the campaign, was partially attributed to the inflow of Western culture13 obviously affected the policy regarding cultural relations with the United States. Furthermore, the management of some specific issues between China and the U.S. created distrust on the part of the Chinese leadership concerning the motives of the Americans and their goals regarding cultural exchanges with China.
To illustrate this suspicion, let us return to the incident of the Boston Museum paintings exhibition in 1981. As we have mentioned, the thirteen abstract paintings which the Chinese officials proposed to delete did get exhibited as a concession from the Chinese side. The Chinese interpretation of the abstract paintings incident is that, as the government of a sovereign country, the Chinese leaders are entitled to decide what is best for their people. So, the refusal by the Americans to accept the decision by Chinese leaders could only be interpreted as a challenge to China's dignity and authority, and therefore could nurture distrust towards
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been almost monoplized by the government because of its suspicion of Western culture. Though Sino-American arts exchanges were exclusively handled by the non-governmental sector" in the period 1972-8, due to the absence of diplomatic relation between the two countries, the Chinese government closely supervised these activitses and the non-governmental sector in China in fact existed only in name. Throughout the period between 1979 and 1981, the non-governmental sector in China was more genuinely active in Sino-American arts exchanges. This is because, while the government adopted a policy to encourage contacts with the United States, its capacity to handle the dramatically increased exchanges was not raised. Furthermore, its incapacity to finance a substantial number of exchanges with the U.S. and to finance the modernization of the arts was also an invitation for the non-governmental sector to take over some exchange programmes, as the non-governmental sector was able both to raise funds at home, and to gain financial support from individual Americans or American organizations. From the handling of the exchange events one can clearly see its increasing independence from government supervision.
However, although Sino-American cultural relations were nurtured by top political leaders of both countries and were one aspect of a rapidly increasing general relationship in the first three years of diplomatic normalization, the decline in arts exchanges in 1982 did not come unexpectedly. The campaign against "bourgeois liberalization", which according to Hu Qiaomu, a party theorist and a mastermind of the campaign, was partially attributed to the inflow of Western culture13 obviously affected the policy regarding cultural relations with the United States. Furthermore, the management of some specific issues between China and the U.S. created distrust on the part of the Chinese leadership concerning the motives of the Americans and their goals regarding cultural exchanges with China.
To illustrate this suspicion, let us return to the incident of the Boston Museum paintings exhibition in 1981. As we have mentioned, the thirteen abstract paintings which the Chinese officials proposed to delete did get exhibited as a concession from the Chinese side. The Chinese interpretation of the abstract paintings incident is that, as the government of a sovereign country, the Chinese leaders are entitled to decide what is best for their people. So, the refusal by the Americans to accept the decision by Chinese leaders could only be interpreted as a challenge to China's dignity and authority, and therefore could nurture distrust towards
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