Clinton's China trip focuses on positive

While the G20 summit in London in April will tackle economic and financial issues, climate change will be the topic of the Copenhagen conference in December. The Clinton trip should put to rest speculation that Sino-American relations may be strained with the Obama administration putting pressure on China to revalue its currency or by adopting protectionist trade measures. Both countries, it is clear, appreciate the overriding importance of maintaining a cooperative relationship.

The bilateral dialogues initiated by the Bush administration may be tweaked but they will continue, possibly at an even higher level.

Mrs. Clinton had indicated that the Sino-American dialogue would no longer be dominated by Treasury and the discussion of economic issues. She said that she and the new Treasury Secretary “will both be fully engaged in this dialogue,” suggesting that she may want to lead the dialogue herself.

As Mr. Yang said, the upcoming summit meeting between the leaders of China and the United States will be of great importance and careful preparations will have to be made to ensure its success. He will fly to Washington in March to pave the way for the London conference and the Obama-Hu summit.

There is very little time left between now and April. There is a little more time, though not much more, between now and December. The two countries have their work cut out for them if they are to reach joint positions to be adopted in London and Copenhagen. It is not only in their interests, but in the interests of the rest of the world, for these two countries to work together at these two crucial conferences.

Columnist Ching can be reached at Frank.ching@gmail.com

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