Expectations that President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart, George W. Bush, would resolve any of their nations' differences during talks in Beijing yesterday were low. Such a view was not a matter of pessimism; more, it was an acknowledgement that the relationship between China and the United States is complex and cannot be dealt with in a single meeting, not even at the highest possible level of diplomacy.
As it transpired, although Mr Bush was armed with a full agenda of concerns and criticisms, all he came away with were promises and a contract for 70 Boeing aircraft. Nothing concrete was agreed on the mainland's growing trade deficit with the US, criticism that the yuan is undervalued, calls for democracy, more human rights and religious freedom, and greater effort to tackle piracy of American goods.
Beijing's growing military capabilities, its intentions towards Taiwan and calls for its leaders to have a face-to-face meeting with the Dalai Lama to hear his views on Tibet were among the topics discussed - the US delegation clearly was not shy about issues marring ties.
Standing beside Mr Hu in the Great Hall of the People, Mr Bush said it was 'important that social, political and religious freedoms grow in China'. Addressing Mr Bush's concerns, Mr Hu said he and the US leader had expressed a willingness to 'join hands' to achieve more equitable trade and the mainland would continue currency reform. Greater effort would be made to stop the counterfeiting and theft of intellectual property.
Mr Hu was offering nothing new: he was retracing old, well-worn steps. Likewise, Mr Bush was using rhetoric that is familiar to Chinese ears and has become central to US policy towards China.
Nonetheless, relations between the world's only superpower and the nation moving most rapidly to join it have not been better since April 2001, when, just over two months after Mr Bush took office, an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter sent to intercept it collided off Hainan Island . A host of issues has since tested relations, among them China's opposition to the war in Iraq, the near-US$200 billion trade imbalance, union claims that the mainland's economic rise is taking jobs from Americans, pressure for reform from the religious right and Beijing's diplomatic ties with nations such as Iran, seen by Washington as a pariah state.
