This was not enough to placate congressional critics, who demand a substantial revaluation of the yuan as a move to reduce the American trade deficit. But it did generate considerable goodwill in the business community. Mr Hu received a warm welcome in Seattle, where he met Boeing executives and was wined and dined by Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft.

Although no breakthroughs resulted from the talks between US President George W. Bush and Mr Hu, indications are that the two sides are moving closer towards a strategic partnership - something envisaged by former president Bill Clinton and repudiated by Mr Bush in his first term.

Mr Bush said the United States and China 'shared many strategic interests'. This was echoed by Mr Hu, who said an 'important agreement' had been reached by the two sides, and that 'China and the United States share extensive, common strategic interests'.

But the meticulous care taken by China to ensure the success of the presidential visit was not matched by the American side. Things started to go wrong shortly after Mr Hu's arrival. The White House announcer declared that the band would play 'the national anthem of the Republic of China'.

'Republic of China', of course, is the formal name of the government in Taiwan, while the mainland's proper name is 'People's Republic of China'. Such a slip suggests that the American side took insufficient care to ensure the visit's success. CNN repeatedly referred to Mr Hu as 'premier', reflecting the American media's ignorance of China.

Mr Bush's speech was translated into Chinese in a halting, stuttering fashion that had one Chinese official shaking his head in disbelief. Apparently, while the Chinese had provided the Americans with an advance copy of Mr Hu's remarks, the Americans had not reciprocated with Mr Bush's speech.

Then Mr Hu's remarks were interrupted by a Falun Gong member, who held a press pass issued to the Falun Gong newspaper Epoch Times. The woman, Wang Wenyi, had heckled then president Jiang Zemin on a visit to Malta in 2001. It is hard to believe that a person with such a history was given press accreditation.

The Maltese government had refused her a press pass, but she managed to confront Mr Jiang on the street. White House security, it would appear, is not as good as that of Malta.

These are minor incidents, but when taken together they suggest that the United States government and American society still do not take China seriously. While China likes to think of itself as the equal of the United States, Americans and their government think so little of China that they don't even take the trouble to ensure that they have the proper name of the country or the title of the visitor.

It would appear that the Bush administration, along with other Americans, is paying insufficient attention to China - and Asia. It is understandable that a country as big, powerful and important as the United States should be self-absorbed, taking little interest in other countries, especially when they are on the other side of the world.

However, in this age of globalisation, even the United States cannot afford to remain insular.

Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer and commentator