I would argue the earlier mindset (i.e. China engagement) was not based solely on pie-in-the-sky optimism, but had a couple of other factors - 1) The belief th

I would argue the earlier mindset (i.e. China engagement) was not based solely on pie-in-the-sky optimism, but had a couple of other factors - 1) The belief that China would eventually succeed with or without us, so it is to our benefit for them to succeed with us. 2) The belief that engaging the Soviets hastened the end of the [First?] Cold War, so it might also work on the Chinese. Because we have no control scenario we can't be sure, but engagement probably worked, if for no other reason than to set up a situation where China appears a bit more transparent today than 30 years ago.