A PhD thesis in the Department of History at the College of Arts, University of Basrah, examined “U.S.-China Relations  1981 - 1988.”

The thesis presented by researcher Mahmoud Habib Salem included three chapters: “Reagan’s rise to power and the tension in US-China relations 1981-1982,” a study of “the development of political and economic relations between the United States of America and China 1983-1985,” and “the course of political and economic relations between the United States of America and China 1986-1988.”

The most important conclusions reached by the thesis through tracking the course of US-China relations during the study period are that relations have been characterized by fluctuations, improving at times and declining at other times.