Three-Day Summit Cements US-China Frenemy Status

• by Aprille Muscara (washington)
• Thursday, January 20, 2011
• Inter Press Service

'Overall, the two sides got at least part of what they wanted,' John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, told IPS. 'The U.S. got 45 billion dollars in Chinese investments - that's a lot of money [and] an important kind of victory that Obama can bring to Congress… 45 billion dollars is not only a lot of money, it means several hundred thousand [American] jobs - and that's the issue that is paramount in people's minds.'

'On the Chinese side, this [summit] is a key indicator of Chinese status in the world - to be accorded full honours in a visit like this… with relatively little in the way of embarrassment,' Feffer added.

The summit's timing is key, as it follows a year of seemingly aggressive Chinese actions in the Asia-Pacific region, drawing the ire of its neighbours and their Western allies. Analysts say that this week's mostly glitch-free meet was thus a step forward in improving China's image in the international community, and improving Washington- Beijing relations.

Lost in Translation?

In addition to Beijing's promise to purchase 45 billion dollars in U.S. exports, the White House announced that China made pledges to ramp up its efforts to protect intellectual property and eliminate some discriminatory businesses practices, such as not basing government procurement decisions on the countries of origin of goods and services - a victory for U.S. firms who complain they are being edged out of the Chinese market unfairly.

However, expert on U.S.-China relations Robert Kapp told IPS that he is concerned that both sides might not really be seeing eye-to-eye on the technical details of what 'delinking' China's innovation policies with its government procurement processes actually means.

'We can only hope that there will not be one of those misunderstandings… whereby the Americans understood one thing and the Chinese understood something else,' the former president of the U.S.-China Business Council said, adding that even if Washington and Beijing are exactly on the same page on this issue, things are easier said than done.

If nothing got lost in translation, 'And if the president of China has the power - and this remains to be seen - to compel changes of behaviour all up and down the bureaucratic ladder… If all those ifs are true… then in fact a major obstacle to American and other foreign businesses will have been eliminated,' Kapp told IPS.

'Only time will tell,' he noted cautiously - a sentiment that seems to echo across many of the incremental Chinese concessions made this week, from pledging to continue to promote currency reform, to expressing public concern about North Korea's uranium enrichment programme for the first time, to conceding that Beijing has more progress to make on the human rights front.

At a joint press conference held here Wednesday, Hu failed to answer a question about human rights the first time the topic was brought up. When pressed by another reporter, Hu said that he didn't hear the question and claimed it hadn't been translated properly.

'China recognises and also respects the universality of human rights,' he finally answered in what seemed to be a prepared statement. 'China is a developing country with a huge population, and also a developing country in a crucial stage of reform. In this context, China still faces many challenges in economic and social development. And a lot still needs to be done in China in terms of human rights.'

Some took Hu's statements as a welcome sign and an indicator of potential progress. But others point out that concrete action must follow.

Promises, Promises

'I wasn't surprised by his answer. It wasn't the first time that the Chinese acknowledged they have work to do,' Washington director for Human Rights Watch Tom Malinowski told IPS.

'So far, it's just rhetoric,' he noted. 'I don't expect the Chinese government to make serious changes in its human rights practices… It's a long-term effort.'

Although much of this week was a carefully-staged series of events in which each party seemed to play its prescribed role - Obama raised human rights, Hu claimed to respect them, for instance - Feffer said that, on this issue, 'It was important for Obama to basically throw Hu to the wolves… the media.'

'I do think that it was somewhat new and significant that the leader of China was forced to address that kind of question and make that kind of statement on U.S. soil with the world press watching,' Malinowski noted.

Advocacy groups were angered by the summit's categorisation as a state visit - complete with a celebrity-filled state dinner - seeing it as an award for China's egregious human rights record.

'President Hu has tried and failed to convince the world that China is open and democratic,' Stefanie Rogers, operations manager for Students for a Free Tibet, told IPS.

Rogers was the designated spokesperson for a coalition of groups who dutifully filled the sidewalks outside each of Hu's stops in Washington, chanting slogans like, 'Hu Jintao's a murderer!' and 'China is a liar!' The coalition includes the International Campaign for Tibet and the Tibetan Youth Congress.

Rogers saw irony in 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama hosting the man who has the 2010 winner, respected human rights advocate Liu Xiabo, in jail and his wife, Liu Xia, under house arrest. 'We want President Obama to work for the peace that he promised when he won that prize,' Rogers said. 'He needs to earn it.'

'I think the president made America's concerns very clear to the Chinese leader,' Malinowski countered. 'The administration was very principled and assertive at the summit in promoting human rights in China - between Secretary Clinton's speech on Friday, the meeting the president had with Chinese dissidents [last week], and his statements at the press conference and what was apparently discussed in the private meeting.'

Although observers would have surely appreciated more headway in some areas - currency revaluation, for instance - most seem more or less content with the week's events and the way in which they were managed.

Although 'It's almost all rhetoric,' Feffer said, referring to the barrage of buzzwords like 'win-win', 'mutual benefit' and 'comprehensive cooperation' - hewn by both the Hu and Obama fronts. 'There is genuine cooperation because there's genuine co-dependence… That drives a great deal of cooperation - not just economically, but also on security issues.'

The parties issued a joint communiqué Wednesday in which 41 mutually-agreed upon points were enumerated covering a broad array of issues, from military-to-military relations and Iran sanctions to people-to-people exchanges and climate change.

'It's a remarkable document… in the sense that depending on where you're reading it - Beijing or Washington - it sounds as if the other side made all the concessions,' Feffer told IPS, calling it 'well-crafted'.

Given the week's relatively smooth course, and given that the promises made this week are still only promises, he said, 'Speaking broadly, you could buy into the rhetoric.'

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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