The history of relations between the United States and China tells a story of distrust, exploitation, naivety and conflicting views, but also a story of struggle to overcome these differences. In recent decades, the two nations have become increasingly dependent on each other, but America still cannot overcome many of the divisions established between the United States and Maoist China, says Michael Schaller. Although relations became hostile after the end of World War II, China's diplomatic outlook toward the United States and the West has always been rather guarded. China's attitude towards America has never deterred it (America) from pursuing its interests in the Far East. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, America sought to open the Chinese market to expand trade and increase missionary work in China. From the collapse of the Qing until the end of the "loss of China" in 1949, the United States sought to ensure that China's market and its potential military power remained favorable to the United States in the period post-war. After Mao's Chinese Communist Party took over the continent, the United States began to point the finger at the loss of Chang Kai-shek's pro-American state. Tensions eventually eased in the 1970s with Nixon's opening to China, paving the way for détente between the powers. In this new stage of their relations, America and China sought to assert their mutual interests with a view to containing the Soviet bloc. America began its history with China “from their first contact in the 1780s,” at the twilight of the Chinese imperial era (4). The aristocracy of China's last dynasty, the Qing, was clinging desperately to preserve not only China's sovereignty, but also its own relevance as a power structure with the region as Western powers.... . middle of paper...... ew] The Bush administration... has made a habit of describing China as a “strategic competitor” or rival” (3). Throughout Sino-American history, relations have been strained, but there are moments of cooperation between the two powers. Cultural and political differences have led these nations into conflict time and time again. The American view of China has often been naive; the Americans imagined China as they wanted it and not as it really was. Within China, modernization struggles and American attempts to control the region. have provoked very diverse reactions throughout China's history with the United States. Cooperation for mutual benefit has repeatedly relegated differences to the background in Sino-US relations, and the current partnership between the two nations continues to be one of the most important in modern geopolitics. history,