Trying to smooth over recently rocky relations before he visits Washington, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) told aides to US President Barack Obama yesterday that he wants to see healthy and stable ties between the two countries.
The meeting between Hu and a White House economic policy official and deputy national security adviser was unusual because the Chinese president rarely meets with visitors ranked lower in diplomatic protocol.
It underscored Hu’s desire to move ahead in relations after months of discord over trade imbalances, Chinese currency policies and US arms sales and military maneuvers.
“China looks positively on the fresh progress made in China-US relations, and we are willing to work together with the United States in promoting the advance of healthy and stable China-US relations,” Hu told US National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers and Deputy National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post also reported yesterday, citing unnamed Chinese diplomats, that the governments had agreed to resume the talks between the China and US militaries that Beijing suspended earlier this year in a pique over US weapons sales to Taiwan.
US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said Donilon and Summers had “productive, detailed, and wide ranging discussions with Chinese officials” and that the visit, which concluded yesterday, “advanced the goal of strengthening the US-China relationship.”
Hammer said in a statement that the advisers had “candid exchanges on a wide range of issues touching on bilateral and international issues,” including North Korea and Iran.
As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and the US have frequently locked horns over how to persuade Iran and North Korea to give up their nuclear programs, with Washington tending to favor sanctions and Beijing advocating dialogue and diplomatic means.
Other economic and security issues also were raised, Hammer said, but gave no specifics.
Addressing the security and economic spats that have dragged down relations was at the heart of Summers and Donilon’s three days of meetings in Beijing.
With an anemic economy and his Democratic Party under pressure in upcoming congressional elections, Obama is hoping for Beijing concessions on exchange rate policies that critics say keep the Chinese currency low in value, thereby subsidizing Chinese exports and contributing to high US unemployment and voter dissatisfaction.
Hu, in the meantime, is trying to strengthen his political hand ahead of a delicate Chinese Communist Party leadership transition and maintain the popularity of his government with people grown used to high rates of economic growth in part buoyed by trade with the US.
A White House visit — earlier offered by Obama and reiterated by Donilon this week — would be a boost for Hu in the highly symbolic, ceremony-centric world of Chinese politics.
US officials have said that Hu is likely to visit Washington in January, though dates are still being discussed.
In his meeting with the US officials, Hu noted Obama’s trip to Beijing last November and said “relations have on the whole maintained healthy development thanks to the efforts of both sides.”
Beyond the positive tone, it was unclear whether substantive compromises were reached during the trip.
On Tuesday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected US pressure on China’s currency policies, saying Beijing will set the pace of any reforms.
“Exchange rate reform can’t be pressed ahead under external pressure,” said Jiang Yu (姜瑜), a foreign ministry spokesman.
Still, senior Chinese officials talked of ending the public carping that has contributed to the souring atmosphere in recent months.
“Quiet and in-depth dialogue is better than loud haranguing,” State Councilor Dai Bingguo (戴秉國) told Summers and Donilon on Tuesday.
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