Editing Jiang Zemin (section)

=== Foreign policy ===
{{See also|List of international trips made by Jiang Zemin}}
[[File:President Clinton greets Chinese President Jiang Zemin for their bilateral meeting at Government House, Aukland, New Zealand on 11 September 1999 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Jiang with US president [[Bill Clinton]] in 1999]]
[[File:Vladimir_Putin_at_APEC_Summit_in_China_19-21_October_2001-11.jpg|thumb|Jiang with [[President of Russia]] [[Vladimir Putin]] at [[APEC]] summit in [[Shanghai]] (2001)]]
Under Jiang's leadership, China continued its style of developmental diplomacy which had been adopted under Deng Xiaoping.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1332788951 |title=The dragon roars back : transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3415-2 |location=Stanford, California |page=11 |oclc=1332788951}}</ref> China's international behavior was generally both pragmatic and predictable.<ref name=":0" /> During Jiang's presidency, serious flare-ups between China and the United States occurred.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Buckley |first1=Chris |last2=Wines |first2=Michael |date=30 November 2022 |title=Jiang Zemin, Leader Who Guided China into Global Market, Dies at 96 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/30/obituaries/jiang-zemin-dead.html |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref> Nonetheless, Jiang's foreign policy was for the most part passive and non-confrontational. Foreign policy under Jiang inherited from that of Deng Xiaoping, that is, ''taoguang yanghui'', or "hide one's talent and bide one's time", which emphasized the use of cooperative rhetoric and the avoidance of controversy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doshi |first=Rush |title=Hu's to blame for China's foreign assertiveness? |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/hus-to-blame-for-chinas-foreign-assertiveness/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Brookings |language=en-US}}</ref>

In July 1993, the United States Navy stopped a Chinese container ship, the ''Yinhe'', based on the incorrect suspicion that it was carrying chemical weapon precursors bound for Iran.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781503634152 |title=The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3415-2 |page=63|doi=10.1515/9781503634152 }}</ref> Although China denied the allegation, the United States cut off the ''Yinhe''{{'}}s GPS, causing it to lose direction and anchor on the high seas for twenty-four days until it acceded to an inspection.<ref name=":1" /> There were no chemical precursors on the ship.<ref name=":1" /> Although China sought a formal apology, the United States refused to apologize and refused to pay compensation.<ref name=":1" /> Despite the humiliation of the [[Yinhe incident|''Yinhe'' incident]], Jiang took a stance of goodwill towards the United States and adopted the "sixteen-characters formula" for working with the United States: "enhancing confidence, reducing troubles, expanding cooperation, and avoiding confrontation."<ref name=":1" /> 

In 1998, Chinese President Jiang praised the American film ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' during an address to the National People's Congress in order to demonstrate his endorsement of Western cultural imports.<ref name=":023">{{Cite book |last=Tu |first=Hang |title=Sentimental Republic: Chinese Intellectuals and the Maoist Past |publisher=[[Harvard University Asia Center]] |year=2025 |isbn=9780674297579 |pages=242}}</ref>

Jiang oversaw [[Third Taiwan Strait Crisis|a series of missile tests in the waters surrounding Taiwan]] in 1996 in protest to the [[Taiwan|Republic of China]] government under President [[Lee Teng-hui]], who had been seen as moving its foreign policy away from the [[One China|One-China policy]].<ref name=":054">{{Cite book |last=Lampton |first=David M. |title=Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-5381-8725-8 |location=Lanham, MD |pages= |author-link=David M. Lampton}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=224-225}} The United States sent two carrier groups to the vicinity of Taiwan, and the PRC de-escalated.<ref name=":054" />{{Rp|page=225}} As a result of the United States response, Jiang ordered the [[People's Liberation Army]] to begin a ten-year modernization program.<ref name=":054" />{{Rp|page=225}}

Jiang went on a [[state visit]] to the United States in 1997, drawing various crowds in protest from the Tibet Independence Movement to supporters of the [[Chinese democracy movement]]. He made a speech at Harvard University, part of it in English, but could not escape questions on democracy and freedom. In the official summit meeting with president [[Bill Clinton]], the tone was relaxed as they sought common ground while largely ignoring areas of disagreement. Clinton would visit China in June 1998, and vowed that China and the United States were partners in the world, and not adversaries.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=358}}

After the [[United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade]] in 1999, Jiang seemed to have put up a harsh stance for show at home, but in reality only performed symbolic gestures of protest, and no solid action.<ref name="BBC" /> Jiang deemed the United States-China bilateral relation too important to be harmed in the emotion of the moment and sought to soothe the Chinese public's outrage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781503634152 |title=The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics and Chinese Foreign Policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3415-2 |location=Stanford, California |pages=63–64|doi=10.1515/9781503634152 }}</ref> In an emergency Politburo meeting on 8 May 1999, Jiang Zemin instructed the CMC to strengthen the PLA to prevent future attacks on Chinese interests.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Cunningham |first=Fiona S. |title=Under the Nuclear Shadow: China's Information-Age Weapons in International Security |date=2025 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-26103-4 |location=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=165}} Among the measures China took to close its lack in leverage with the United States were efforts to develop precision missiles and accelerating plans to expand conventional missile forces.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=|pages=17, 132}} China increased military funding, including to speed up the weapons development program Project 995.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=165}}

The [[Hainan Island incident|Hainan island incident]] was another tense event in the China-United States relations which occurred during Jiang's presidency.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781503634152 |title=The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3415-2 |location=Stanford, California |pages=64|doi=10.1515/9781503634152 }}</ref> On April 1, 2001, a United States US [[Lockheed EP-3|EP-3]] surveillance aircraft collided mid-air with a Chinese [[Shenyang J-8]] jet fighter over the South China Sea.<ref name=":2" /> China sought a formal apology, and accepted United States Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]]'s expression of "very sorry" as sufficient.<ref name=":2" /> The incident nonetheless created negative feelings towards the United States by the Chinese public and increased public feelings of [[Chinese nationalism]].<ref name=":2" />

A personal friend of former Canadian prime minister [[Jean Chrétien]],<ref>{{cite web |title=NewsLibrary.com – newspaper archive, clipping service – newspapers and other news sources |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F97A5C48B7AFFEC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107015724/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F97A5C48B7AFFEC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |archive-date=7 November 2017 |access-date=14 November 2017 |website=Nl.newsbank.com}}</ref> Jiang strengthened China's economic stature abroad, attempting to establish cordial relations with countries whose trade is largely confined to the American economic sphere.