All in all, the expectation is that Hu’s visit will be a relatively friendly affair that will paper over a far more complex reality governing Sino-American ties. “China and the U.S. share important common interests in the Asia Pacific region, and we are willing to work together to make the Asia Pacific more peaceful, stable, and prosperous,” says a senior Chinese official in Beijing. “The whole world acknowledges that our countries are the two major engines for economic growth.”
Yet few in the West fathom the contradictory development challenges China confronts — and how they limit and shape its dealings with the U.S. and others. Yes, it is home to a potentially vast consumer market and abundant and cheap labor, but it has equally vast income inequality, joblessness, environmental wreckage, and a rapidly aging population. Hu is trying to balance high-speed economic growth with social stability, and more transparency in government with authoritarian, single-party political control. China is not only a dynamo whose companies are increasingly assertive in moving abroad — witness the purchase of IBM’s (IBM ) PC business by Lenovo Group Ltd. (LNVGY ) — but also an extremely fragile place. “They have a lot of fingers in a lot of dikes. They’re just trying to maintain stability,” says a Bush Administration insider.
CDT EBOOKS
Subscribe to CDT
SUPPORT CDT
Giving Assistant
Anti-censorship Tools
Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention
