From the International Herald Tribune:
The decision by Washington and Beijing to postpone President Hu Jintao’s official visit to the United States, because of President George W. Bush’s preoccupation with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, allows both sides to defuse, at least for now, a thorny diplomatic issue. Beijing was upset that Hu was not going to be accorded a state visit – a perceived snub that Chinese interlocutors were blaming on administration “neocons.”
In truth, the reason may have more to do with the company Hu has been keeping lately; a problem that is not likely to go away anytime soon and which should be on Bush’s agenda when he meets with Hu later in the month in New York along the sidelines of the United Nations’ 60th anniversary celebrations.
I
