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UPDATED: March 23, 2009 NO. 12 MAR. 26, 2009
Starting off on the Right Foot
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi's visit to the United States confirms the two countries' desire to cooperate
By DING YING
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"A good beginning is half done." This proverb aptly summarizes the current situation between China and the new Barack Obama administration. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi paid a four-day visit to the United States from March 9 to 13, not long after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to China in late February.

 

PREPARING FOR LONDON: Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House on March 12 (ZHANG YAN)

During his visit, Yang met with senior U.S. leaders, including President Barack Obama, and exchanged views with them on bilateral and international issues. He also made a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stating China's stance on developing the Sino-U.S. relationship among others. As they struggle with the global financial crisis, he said, China and the United States should cooperate rather than find fault with each other. (See page 11)

Shen Shishun, Director of Asia-Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the top mission of Yang's U.S. tour was to communicate with the U.S. side and coordinate the stances of the two countries before the G20 summit in London next month. "Because of the financial turmoil, the G20 summit has become the most important issue in the world," Shen said.

He explained that there were two main topics for discussion between the two sides. One was how China and the United States will respond to the current economic recession, both together and as individual countries. The other was how China and other growing economies can play a bigger role in rescuing the world economy. Shen said that when the economic situation in Western countries deteriorates, developing countries continue to experience economic growth, which makes cooperation a natural result.

Facing problems together

"We have now confirmed the desire of all-round cooperation between China and the United States," Shen said.

U.S. observers expressed similar optimism about the bilateral relations. "The Obama administration has been trying very hard to establish a constructive relationship with China," said William H. Overholt, a senior research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He told Beijing Review that Secretary Clinton's visit to China focused on areas where the two countries need to work together, and that President Obama had a "constructive meeting" with the visiting Chinese foreign minister. "The United States and China need to work together on the financial crisis, energy, the environment, North Korea and many other issues," he said.

In their meeting, Yang and Clinton reached several common understandings. They confirmed that the two sides would upgrade the current Strategic Economic Dialogue mechanism to a China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue mechanism to strengthen mutual trust. They agreed to jointly cope with the ongoing global financial crisis, which has been a focus of their cooperation for some time. The two leaders also recognized that they share common interests in global issues such as climate change, energy and the environment. They also have potential common interests in areas like counterterrorism, nonproliferation and exchanges of culture, science and technology.

The two countries face serious problems and great opportunities on many fronts, Overholt said. "If we work together constructively on these issues, we can take Asia and the world to a new level of prosperity and peace despite the current financial crisis," he said. "If we degenerate into protectionism, devaluations, arms races and mutual suspicion, then the financial crisis will worsen and we could sacrifice the prosperity and peace that have gained momentum in recent years."

But observers fear that certain conflicts and disputes could influence bilateral cooperation. Divergent interests and opinions in some areas are inevitable, especially for two big countries like China and the United States, Shen said. "Both sides should respect each other's core interests," he said. "They need to stay calm when facing disputes." He stressed that the two sides should sit down and discuss their differences, but never challenge the other's bottom line.

During Yang's visit, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution criticizing China's Central Government's policy toward Tibet Autonomous Region. Shen said that this reflected the Obama administration's "smart power" diplomatic strategy. When it loses influence in economic and financial areas, it must fall back on a topic to give the United States a moral advantage, he said. "The U.S. side is trying to achieve a balance in its China policy. When it has to be humble in one area, it will hold its head high in the other," he explained.

The recent South China Sea standoff between Chinese vessels and a U.S. Navy surveillance ship, which was inside China's exclusive economic zone, underlines the potential for conflict. "China did not defend these areas so vigorously in the past," Shen said, suggesting China should pay more attention to protecting its legal sovereignty in the exclusive economic zones. "Now the world is aware that even though China's focus is on developing the economy in a peaceful and stable way, that doesn't mean China will sacrifice its sovereignty," he said. "Every country should respect China's sovereignty."

(With reporting by Chen Wen, New York)



 
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