Each individual action taken by itself is limited in scope. What is more important in a policy sense is the accumulation of measures intended to broaden U.S. economic relations with Cuba - cautiously, to be sure. This, I think, is evidence of misgiving by many in the Congress about continuation of past policy. My purpose here is not to take a position on U.S. policy toward Cuba, but rather to state my impression that many U.S. lawmakers and senior officials in the executive branch are already thinking about the transition to a post-Castro Cuba and wondering whether this would be smoother if some economic transitions begin now. There are substantial reasons for treating China differently from Cuba.
China is vastly more populous and the potential market much more significant.
China took the initiative to open deeper economic relations with the United States out of a desire to develop a more competitive economy. But China is not the only country that is being treated differently from Cuba. Normal trade relations are soon to begin with Vietnam. Talks between the United States and North Korea, the archetype closed society, are taking place and it would not surprise me if this led to more open trading relations. I do not wish to push this argument too far.