Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on U.S.-China relations. From International Herald Tribune:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday assured lawmakers that the United States is ready to handle any Chinese military threat, even as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for increased U.S. engagement with Beijing.
Gates, speaking at a Senate hearing, said that U.S. forces “have the capability in place to be able to deal with any foreseeable Chinese threat for some time to come.”
Clinton, meanwhile, told reporters at the State Department that the Bush administration’s dialogue with China “turned into an economic dialogue,” referring to former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s Strategic Economic Dialogue, high-level discussions that have been held twice a year starting in late 2006.
