Issue Summary. In recent years, tensions between the United States and China have introduced new challenges—especially related to economic and defense issues. China is a major trading partner for the United States but it is also developing its military capabilities, which poses challenges to the U.S. military.

The position of the PRC is that the ROC and PRC are two different factions in the Chinese Civil War, which never legally ended. Therefore, the PRC claims that both factions belong to the same sovereign country—China.

The contributions to world civilization of ancient China's four inventions: Papermaking, printing, powder, and the compass, as well as remarkable achievements in mathematics, medical science, astronomy, agriculture, and architecture, are universally recognized.