Clinton seeks positive start of Sino-US relation

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Source: CCTV.com | 02-21-2009 09:13

Hillary Clinton has a broad agenda to deal with here, but her main mission in Beijing will be to ensure that relations under the new Obama administration get off to a positive start.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at Beijing airport February 20, 2009. (Greg Baker/Pool/Reuters)

Starting in Japan and ending in China, Clinton's debut trip is parsed for clues to the new administration's diplomatic policy.

Professor Chu Shulong, Tsinghua University, said, "Clinton's choice of Asia show she understands the region's importance to the US. And the visiting order is based on Washington's diplomatic tradition. Her message was clear: to reaffirm the US alliance with Japan, and to build a productive relationship with China."

Last month, China and the United States marked the 30th anniversary of bilateral ties.

Over the years, the US policy towards China has developed from containment to engagement.

There are now more than 60 dialogue and cooperation mechanisms between the two countries, in the particular the Strategic Dialogue and the Strategic Economic Dialogue.

Two-way trade volume has surged from 2.4 billion US dollars in 1979 to more than 300 billion dollars in 2007, an increase of over 120 times.

The US is China's biggest customer and China is the largest holder of US treasury bonds.

The ongoing financial crisis makes it necessary to expand cooperation and create new fields and channels to push it forward.

Professor Chu Shulong, Tsinghua University, said, "The growing interdependence between China and the United States has narrowed the scope for radical policy shifts. China once needed the American market, and its cooperation, more than America needed China. But today, the US needs China's cooperation as much as China needs the US's."

For China and the US, a broader agenda lies ahead.

The DPRK nuclear issue, the war on terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan, climate change and other issues of common concern, all require deeper cooperation.

Later this month, the two sides will resume military-to-military talks that were suspended last year.

In the speech prior to her visit, Clinton drew on Chinese tradition as a guide for the US-China partnership today:“When you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together. ”

Yet analysts say the trip will be evaluated more for the tone it sets than any single achievement.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei