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Wen calls for better US communications
(China Daily/USA Today)
Updated: 2006-01-25 05:56
The report said that Zoellick's two-day trip aims to lock China into the
"stakeholder" concept he outlined in a September 2005 speech titled, "Whither
China: From Membership to Responsibility." The speech, widely studied in China,
highlights the new direction the State Department hopes Sino-U.S. relations will
take and the difficulty of getting there.
Doubts remain over how far the new rhetoric translates into action. "Both
sides have made a lot of nice speeches in recent months," Shi Yinhong, a
professor of International Relations at People's University in Beijing, said the
USA Today report.
"But they have not taken substantial steps to really deal with concrete
disputes."
The list of potential disputes includes the large bilateral trade imbalance,
the need for further revaluation of China's yuan currency and China's stance
over the possible nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.
"China's leadership was happy to hear the concept of "stakeholder" as it
shows America recognizes China's increasing role in the world," says Shi.
Zoellick hopes his initiative offers a framework on which to promote
Sino-U.S. relations, widely tipped as this century's key bilateral relationship,
according to the report.
"The words 'stakeholder' upgraded China's status in foreign relations and the
global system," says Chu Shulong, director of the Strategy Research Institute at
Tsinghua University, also in Beijing.
"The only uncertainty in Chinese circles is whether it represents the ideas
of the administration. Does the key term 'stakeholder' also represent the ideas
of Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice, or the thinking of the President
himself?" Chu was cited as saying.
Chu predicts a smooth ride in China-US relations in the short-term.
"America's strategic intention and concern is not China, but in Iraq,
Afghanistan and the war on terrorism," Chu says. "America needs China's
cooperation in these areas, so I see smooth, positive development of relations
in the year ahead."
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