Clinton Tells China Economy Is Priority

Clinton Tells China Economy Is Priority
－Wall Street Journal

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concluded her first diplomatic mission to China, where she laid out a vision for U.S. relations with Beijing that prioritizes cooperation on the financial crisis and global warming while playing down disagreements over human rights.

Mrs. Clinton ended her weeklong, four-nation Asian trip Sunday highlighting to the Chinese public the 'intertwined' nature of the U.S. and Chinese economies.

'It would not be in China's interest if we were unable to get our economy moving,' Mrs. Clinton said in an interview with the Chinese television talk show 'One on One.'

Noting that Washington is borrowing more to fund stimulus spending, she praised China -- the world's largest holder of U.S. Treasurys -- for its continued purchases of U.S. government debt.

'So by continuing to support American Treasury instruments, the Chinese are recognizing our interconnection. We are truly going to rise or fall together.'

Earlier in the day, Mrs. Clinton attended service at the state-sanctioned Beijing Haidian Christian Church, and held a 'Women's Leadership Forum' with 22 prominent Chinese scholars, executives and media celebrities. She asked the group of women about progress on gender equality, and 'continuing obstacles' for Chinese women.

But Mrs. Clinton -- who as first lady in 1995 angered Beijing by bluntly criticizing its human-rights record at a conference here -- never mentioned human rights during the one-hour women's forum Sunday, and generally avoided sensitive subjects in public statements during her visit.

Mrs. Clinton had signaled in recent days that she wouldn't focus on issues such as human rights and Tibet during her meetings in China. She told reporters Friday that to do so risked undermining efforts to combat the global economic crisis.

'We have to continue to press them' on human rights. 'But our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis,' Mrs. Clinton said. 'We have to have a dialogue that leads to an understanding and cooperation on each of those.'

That statement angered rights activists. The remarks 'send the wrong message to the Chinese government,' Human Rights Watch said in a statement, arguing that past progress on human rights in China has come partly as a result of outside pressure.

Mrs. Clinton focused on the economy, along with key security and environmental issues, in meetings Saturday with senior Chinese leaders. She said her Chinese counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi, will visit Washington in early March to help coordinate a U.S.-China response to the economic downturn ahead of the Group of 20 industrial and developing countries in April in London.

At a joint appearance, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Yang both acknowledged the interdependence of their two economies, but Mr. Yang didn't offer any commitment on Beijing's future investment policies regarding its Treasury holdings.

Mr. Yang said China wants to ensure the 'safety, value and liquidity' of its foreign exchange reserves, and will determine the future use of the reserves with those criteria.

Washington and Beijing are extending a Bush administration initiative to hold regular high-level talks to discuss key economic and strategic issues. The exact structure of the talks is to be announced when U.S. President Barack Obama meets Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G-20 meeting. Mrs. Clinton said she and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would be involved in the dialogue.

Mr. Geithner upset Chinese officials in January when he accused Beijing of 'manipulating' its currency -- a statement widely seen as an escalation of U.S. complaints that China artificially depresses the value of the yuan to bolster its exports.

Aside from the economy, Mrs. Clinton's biggest emphasis in Beijing was on coordinating with China's leaders on confronting environmental challenges. She has appointed a special envoy on climate change, Todd Stern, and the two visited the gas-fired Taiyanggong Power Plant, which was designed to reduce emissions and water consumption. The plant was built by General Electric Co. of the U.S. in partnership with the Chinese government.

'What we see here is the type of in-depth cooperation that we have to encourage,' Mrs. Clinton said in remarks delivered at the plant.

In meetings with Mr. Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao, Mrs. Clinton discussed a range of security issues, including North Korea, Iran, Myanmar and Zimbabwe.

Mrs. Clinton asked China to curb its oil and gas investments in Iran in a bid to force Tehran to give up its nuclear program, according to a senior U.S. official, who said the Chinese leadership offered no signs they'd honor Washington's request. Mr. Yang said these investments don't violate United Nations sanctions against Iran, the official said

At their meeting at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Mr. Hu thanked Mrs. Clinton for making Asia her first overseas trip.

This 'shows the new administration attaches great importance to developing relations with Asia and with China. I greatly appreciate it,' Mr. Hu said. 'I believe Madam Secretary that during your tenure you will make positive contributions to the growth of U.S.-Chinese relations.'

By Jay Solomon from WSJ.

COMMENT
In the past year, China had to deal with many controversial issues including climate changes, international imports and exports, weapon trade, and most importantly the human rights. As the last year, 2008, the Tibetan people were suppressed by the China government and other related human rights which made the debate between China and U.S government for years.However, since last year, the global economic recession which had made the U.S government undergone serious lost in credit and it has strived extremely hard to save its banking system changes the U.S foreign policy and international relation with China. As Clinton had visited China this week, she clearly depicted that the economy is the priority and should be put on the top list and discussed. What she had said demonstrated that the U.S relied on China’s buying its bonds.
Economically speaking, if China bought large amount of US dollars, China should aware that there would be a risk to lose money when its value decreased. This is what China does not like to expect and see. On the other hand, the U.S government does not want the RMB‘s value increased to a high level because the currency rate would interfere the trade between China and U.S.
Based on the political points of views, there is a new relation built between China and U.S. The Asia-tour which is the first tour for the new secretary seemed to me that Clinton wanted to have more positive talking to the Prime Minister of China. Some people scorned her movement because they support the human rights and discontented with the China government’s human rights policy. While others think positively that Clinton had contributed a positive impact on international relation.
In my opinion, she could delay the human rights issue and waited to put on the table when the economy backs to the prosperity.