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Wang Xiangwei

Top US officials have had a long tradition of citing Chinese proverbs in policy speeches about China.
 Over the years, their speechwriters have tried to one-up one another by invoking a range of Chinese poets and philosophers,  pleasing mainland residents and sometimes amusing them, as they wonder if the true meanings of certain idioms are understood.
During his historic visit to China in 1972, then-president Richard Nixon freely quoted Mao Zedong, and former president Ronald Reagan reportedly once quoted Chinese poet Wang Bo, saying, 'Although we reside in far corners of the world, having a good friend is akin to having a good neighbour.'
By the time Barack Obama assumed the presidency in 2009, Sino-US ties were at a critical juncture. In his first visit to China that year, he cited a Chinese proverb, 'Consider the past and you shall know the future', to put into context the complex bilateral ties over the previous 30 years. 
But it was Hillary Clinton who appeared to have employed the best Chinese proverb when she tried in February 2009 to signal a new US approach towards China before her first visit to Beijing as secretary of state. 
 'When you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together,' she said.
'The wisdom of that aphorism must continue to guide us today.'  
Since then, the proverb, known as 'Crossing a river in the same  boat', has  been widely cited by senior US officials, Chinese leaders and the media to describe how  bilateral ties should move forward. 
While Clinton took heavy criticism from human rights groups for not putting human rights - a long-standing issue - high on the agenda during her first trip to China, she was praised by many overseas analysts for focusing on more pressing issues, such as the global financial crisis and climate change. 
Fast forward to last month. Clinton continued to repeat the proverb in her opening remarks at the annual strategic and economic dialogue in Washington. But just as the two sides announced a set of achievements from the two-day talks, they were overshadowed by the publication of an interview that Clinton gave in April to The Atlantic magazine in which she called China's human rights record 'deplorable' and accused the mainland leadership of being 'on a fool's errand' to stop history. 
The timing was, of course, no accident, and it caused great dismay among mainland officials whose ears were  still ringing with the words about being in the same boat. 
From their perspective, Clinton's rebuke was like saying that while both sides are still in the same boat, they have started to quarrel more than row. Her sharp criticism has raised concerns among some mainland officials and analysts as to whether Washington is signalling it intends to modify its approach towards China again, not least because the United States is entering its presidential election cycle and is shifting more of its focus and efforts to Asia. 
One more sign emerged late last month that clearly left mainland officials uneasy. Stephen Young, Washington's top diplomat in Hong Kong, took the baton from Clinton and, in a speech at an American Chamber of Commerce event, expressed US concerns over deteriorating human rights on the mainland. 
The  consul general  discerned 'a negative trend' and said the US had been very concerned in recent months by the detentions of dozens of people, including lawyers, writers and artists. And, he said, so long as 'brave people like Liu Xiaobo remain imprisoned or detained simply for trying to exercise their constitutionally protected words and actions ... we will not remain silent'. 
Young's remarks touched raw nerves among mainland officials, but not just because of what he said. More important were the high-profile way and the place in which he made them. This appears to be his first key public speech focusing on human rights since he took the position in March 2010, and his remarks were widely reported by the media in Hong Kong.
As the mainland leadership is extremely sensitive about any foreign official using Hong Kong as a platform to attack mainland issues, this has led to fears that Young will be more outspoken and critical than his predecessors, since he  has already said he will not be silent. Such concerns are believed to have prompted the mainland's top diplomat in Hong Kong to have met  Young for 'a talk'. 
There is no doubt that Washington should continue to engage Beijing over the latter's human rights record. Obviously, domestic politics have made Washington more vocal on the issue, while making Beijing more defensive. But  the other major issues that prompted Clinton to talk in 2009 about a new approach to China still remain today. 
If the phrase about rowing in the same boat is wearing thin, maybe it is time to use another Chinese idiom to describe the bilateral ties: 'Like two grasshoppers tied by one string, neither can escape from each other', alluding to the two sides' mutual dependence, neither being superior to the other.



Two grasshoppers tied on the same string