SCMP, February 2003
On the surface, US Secretary of State Colin Powell's mission to Beijing appears to have achieved little, for all the usual diplomatic bluster. After meetings with President Jiang Zemin, Vice-President Hu Jintao and Mr Powell's counterpart, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, China and the US seem no closer to agreeing on how to handle Iraq and North Korea.
The Chinese leadership, invoking the will of the international community, reiterated its desire for weapons inspections in Iraq to continue. They stuck to the view that the United Nations must be the arbiter of any decision to go beyond inspections.
Only the naive would have expected a sudden change of heart over Iraq, given China's obvious concern about anything that smacks of US unilateralism.
On North Korea, China offered little obvious compromise. Mr Powell said before his arrival that he wanted China to do more to pressure its neighbour over its resumed nuclear programme. China, unsurprisingly, stuck to its guns, saying it wanted the US to hold direct talks with North Korea. This is a stance China shares with South Korea, whose incoming leader Roh Moo-hyun is clinging to his predecessor's now-tarnished 'sunshine policy' of reconciliation. It is not clear how much influence China has over North Korea, nor is it likely that China's leaders want to be seen to be doing America's bidding, even if China would prefer its border with North Korea stable and nuclear-free.
However, those who, with jaded eyes, dismiss the visit because of the lack of visible progress would be missing a valuable point: China and the US are increasingly able to talk - regularly and deeply - about a range of issues without the sticking points which inevitably arise detracting from the wider benefits of the enterprise. That can only be positive and will undoubtedly help foster workable solutions.
