Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) urged an end to a “zero sum” Cold War relationship with the US and proposed new cooperation, but resisted US arguments about why China should let its currency strengthen.
Indeed, in a sign that the future of the US currency continues to concern the most senior levels of the Chinese government, he said the US dollar-based international currency system is a “product of the past.”
Overall though, Hu, who will visit Washington this week, struck an upbeat tone about ties with the US in a rare written interview with two US newspapers, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
“We should abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality,” he said, and “respect each other’s choice of development path.”
Hu suggested cooperation with the US in areas like new energy sources, clean energy, infrastructure development, aviation and space. He also reassured foreign businesses in China that Beijing would continue to improve laws and regulations affecting them.
And he spoke encouragingly about the outlook for resolving tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
However, Hu also indicated he did not accept US arguments for Beijing to let its currency appreciate. Critics say China’s undervaluing of the yuan gives it an unfair price advantage in international trade, contributing to the huge US trade deficit.
Analysts thought Hu’s generally conciliatory tone augured well ahead of his Washington meetings with US President Barack Obama and other officials.
“Hu makes it clear that China intends to move forward on opening its markets, freeing up its exchange rate and restructuring its political system, but at its own pace and with little heed to external pressures for more rapid or broader reforms,” said Eswar Prasad, a Brookings Institution economist.
Hu said China is fighting inflation with a range of policies including interest-rate increases, and “inflation can hardly be the main factor in determining the exchange rate policy.”
He suggested that inflation, which hit a 28-month high in China last November, was not a big headache, saying prices were “on the whole moderate and controllable.”
“We have the confidence, conditions and ability to stabilize the overall price level,” Hu said.
US lawmakers are among the biggest critics of China’s exchange rate policy. Three Democratic senators — Charles Schumer, Debbie Stabenow and Bob Casey — said on Sunday that they would propose legislation to try and fix the problem. The legislation would impose stiff new penalties on countries that the US Treasury Department designated as currency manipulators.
Hu said it would be a “fairly long process” to make China’s own currency an international one.
He also said “the liquidity of the US dollar should be kept at a reasonable and stable level.”
China has argued that the US Federal Reserve’s November decision to buy US$600 billion in US government bonds would undermine the greenback’s value and lead to competitive currency devaluations by other countries. China, with foreign exchange reserves of US$2.85 trillion, is the largest holder of US debt.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS