Stacy Kwinn and Gregory Perez and Kris Konopka and Justin Denney — two American expat couples who are friends — got together the other day for dim sum and swapped stories about the computer software business in China.

These are among the thousands of Americans living and working here. Their experiences have given them insights into what U.S. policymakers should do about this economic juggernaut.

Their advice: Teach more American kids the Chinese language and higher-level math and science. Keep innovating. Take seriously China’s ambition to invent, not just manufacture. Help China improve consumer safety and conserve energy. Understand how cultural differences translate in the marketplace.

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Post tags: U.S. China business competition, U.S. China cooperation, U.S. China trade
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Lurking under this discussion is the question of whether “strategic reassurance” dovetails with or challenges China’s own policy priorities. The Obama administration urgently needs to clarify this. The Chinese have lately been calling on international partners and interlocutors to undertake relations based on respect for China’s “core interests.” Beijing identifies these as being, in order of priority: the stability and preservation of the current authoritarian regime; respect for the territorial integrity of China; and the preservation of a positive environment for China’s continued economic and political rise.

If Washington’s “strategic reassurance” means reassuring China that the U.S. will not challenge these priorities, it would mark a major change in U.S. policy, particularly with respect to Beijing’s top priority of preserving the current regime. China scholar Aaron Friedberg has noted that political liberalization has long been an important underlying policy objective of U.S. dealings with China. This is as it should be, given that many of the fundamental tensions in the U.S.-China relationship arise from or are amplified by the differences in the two countries’ domestic political systems. Abandonment of this policy objective would be a serious strategic error.

If “strategic reassurance” was developed primarily with China’s third priority of a positive environment for its continued rise in mind it would still be a mistake. U.S. policy makers have frequently misidentified China’s real priorities and, as a result, developed mismatched policy responses that failed to take full advantage of leverage that could be used to advance U.S. interests. The six-party talks on North Korea are a good example: The U.S. side has operated under a misguided belief that the Chinese cared more about helping achieve American goals than they do, and even worked to allay China’s concerns about the North Korean regime’s stability instead of using these to push China to act more forcefully.

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Post tags: Kelley Currie, North Kerean, strategic reassurance, U.S. China cooperation
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To ensure the US-China relationship develops forward in a stable, healthy and long-term way, it is very important to mutually understand, respect and support the other side, and defend our own core interests.” Dai Bingguo continues on to say that China’s number one core interest is to maintain its fundamental system and state security; next is state sovereignty and territorial integrity; and third is the continued stable development of the economy and society.

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© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dai Bingguo, national interests, notable quotes, U.S. China cooperation
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Huntsman, 49, son of a Utah multimillionaire and philanthropist, served as a White House staff assistant to President Reagan, ambassador to Singapore under President George H.W. Bush and deputy trade representative under President George W. Bush.

The governor has strong ties to Asia: He lived as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. He and his wife, Mary Kaye, adopted two daughters, one from China and one from India. He also supports Utah’s legislative push to offer Chinese language courses in school, which would be the first of its kind in the US.

But that does not mean thorny issues would be ignored.

Tao Wenzhao, an expert on Sino-US relations at the American Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that China must be vigilant, as the US is a collection of various interest groups, which means the arms sellers will continue to sell weapons to Taiwan and its defense department won’t stop spreading the “China Threat Theory”.

“That’s why we can’t be optimistic, though there will be a new ambassador with closer connections to China,” he said.

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Post tags: Jon Huntsman, U.S. China cooperation, Xinhua
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday urged China to keep investing its substantial foreign-exchange reserves in U.S. Treasury securities, arguing “we are truly going to rise or fall together.”

China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. debt, which helped finance the spending binge the United States went on before the current economic crisis. Some experts have expressed concern that China’s substantial holding of U.S. debt gives it increased leverage in dealings with Washington because any halt in Chinese purchases would make it more difficult to finance the government bailout and stimulus packages.

Associated Press reports on the same issue via boston.com:

“I certainly do think that the Chinese government and central bank are making a smart decision by continuing to invest in Treasury bonds,” Clinton said in the interview, shortly before departing for Washington. “It’s a safe investment. The United States has a well-deserved financial reputation.”

To boost the economy, the U.S has to incur more debt, she said. “It would not be in China’s interest if we were unable to get our economy moving,” Clinton said. “So by continuing to support American Treasury instruments, the Chinese are recognizing our interconnection. We are truly going to rise or fall together. We are in the same boat and, thankfully, we are rowing in the same direction.

© Sophia Cao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Hillary Clinton, overseas investment, U.S. China cooperation
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“The Forbidden City is huge and . . . there was too much work to do; therefore, our country didn’t have the energy, time as well as enough money to manage this part of the palace,” said Wang Shiwei, senior engineer of the Palace Museum’s historical architecture department. “It is the first time the Palace Museum is cooperating with a foreign organization to repair its facilities comprehensively.”

Palace officials visited the Peabody Museum and other venues to witness firsthand U.S. techniques of cultural restoration.

The pressure was palpable: They were undertaking the renovation of a sacred icon unchanged from the times of Imperial China.

© Japhet Weeks for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: architecture, foreign business, U.S. China cooperation
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