By Yuan Peng
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's current visit comes at a
time Chinese goods' safety, the yuan's exchange rate and China's
impact on global climate change are becoming hot topics in the
United States.
The US Senate Finance Committee passed a bill last week
apparently targeting the Chinese currency's exchange rate.
Newsweek and Business Week magazines as well CNN
have reported extensively on issues concerning the safety of
China-made commodities. It seems to this writer that Chinese-US
economic and trade ties are at a crossroads.
On the shoulders of Paulson, a sponsor of the China-US strategic
economic dialogue and also a senior US official who "knows China
well", naturally rests the responsibility to stabilize bilateral
economic relations. His current China visit, therefore, takes on
added significance.
It could set the tone for the third round of the strategic
economic dialogue that is due to open in Beijing at the end of the
year, and consolidate decisions taken at the second round of
dialogue.
During his visit, Paulson once again emphasized the importance
of striking a balance in bilateral trade, urged China to quicken
the pace of the yuan's appreciation and also expressed concerns
about Chinese goods' safety. But the purpose of his visit goes
beyond all this, in the opinion of this writer.
His first stop was Xining, capital of Northwest China's Qinghai Province. He carefully studied the
ecological system around Qinghai Lake and the progress of
environmental protection there, implying environment issues top his
agenda.
His Qinghai visit has at least three implications.
First, Paulson hopes to see decisions taken at the second round
of the strategic economic dialogue on environmental protection come
to fruition.
Second, he hopes to include environmental issues on the agenda
of the third round of dialogue.
Third, his Qinghai visit was also designed to urge China to
improve the safety of its products and do something about climate
change.
This is because both products' safety and climate change have
their roots in environmental pollution. In doing so, Paulson hopes
to take some domestic political pressure off his shoulders.
Premier Wen Jiabao once praised former US Commerce
Secretary Don Evans as being an official of compassion because he
made visits to China's underdeveloped west in an effort to get a
better understanding of the country as a whole. It is safe to say
that Paulson, who has visited China on a number of occasions and
four in the capacity of US treasury secretary, is definitely one US
official who knows China best, if not the most sympathetic one.
Each of his visits has had some particular meaning. For example,
his most frequently visited place in China has been Zhejiang Province. In his eyes, the province
enjoys a flourishing private economy and the local government is
relatively incorruptible, which signals the direction in which
China should develop in the future.
An important aspect of Paulson's China outlook, therefore, is to
urge the nation to shift the model of economic growth. This is also
an important factor in the United States' China-related economic
strategy.
The fact that the focus of Paulson's current visit is Qinghai,
demonstrates that the US government is beginning to treat China's
environmental issues as one of the priorities in its China economic
strategy, which basically tallies with the US public's concerns -
China's environmental pollution and the safety of Chinese-made
products.
To a certain extent, Paulson's concerns about issues in China
are the concerns of China itself. Environmental pollution, for
instance, has become a factor largely arresting China's sustainable
development and tarnishing the nation's image abroad. If handled
poorly, the country's environmental pollution could send a negative
impact on global climate.
It is against this backdrop that China and the United States
have stepped up environmental cooperation. A number of factors
should be taken into account in conducting bilateral environmental
cooperation.
First, environmental issues should be viewed from the
perspective of enhancing bilateral strategic mutual trust and
widening the scope of mutual development.
China-US relations have remained stable over the last six years
since September 2001. However, strategic mutual trust between the
two sides remains inadequate, which means that the long-term
stability of the bilateral ties is still on shaky grounds.
Finding agreement on "low political issues" can facilitate the
enhancement of mutual trust.
Second, environmental cooperation should be immune from the
influences of politics and ideology. In so far as China is
concerned, the country should face up squarely to the stark reality
of the deteriorating environment and, therefore, cooperate
earnestly with advanced nations, including the United States.
On the part of the United States, it should "think big", in
Paulson's words, and view bilateral environmental cooperation
against the big picture of US-China relations as a whole, and
global economic stability. The United States needs to do away with
technological barriers against China and reduce ideological
prejudices in its dealings with China.
Third, bilateral environmental cooperation does not have time on
its side, it is imperative to see quick results. Apart from the
fact that China and the United States share big responsibilities in
global climate change and environmental damage, the food-safety
problems evolving from environmental pollution are getting
increasingly intensified. They could wreak severe damage to the
Sino-US economic relationship. Accelerated bilateral environmental
cooperation and its accomplishments can only bring positive
results.
The author is a researcher with China Institute of
Contemporary International Relations.
(China Daily August 2, 2007)
