There is hardly a relationship more important than the one between the US and China. And there is hardly one more complicated. The escape of a blind activist to a US embassy ahead of a forum has made that clear again.
When the one remaining world power and the aspiring one get together, they mean business. On Thursday, the fourth Strategic Economic Dialogue will start in Beijing. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be there with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, accompanied by around 200 American officialls.
The summit's broad agenda was extended last week by a further critical point: the blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who was recently able to escape from his house arrest in the province of Shandong. According to some activists, he fled to the American embassy in Beijing. The US had demanded Chen's release for years. They also documented how he and his family were abused. Last November, he was mentioned in a speech by Hillary Clinton - as an example of how the Chinese government treats unwelcome activists. But now the US State Department has been remarkably quiet. It hasn't even confirmed whether or not Chen went to the embassy.
Chen Guangcheng is thought to have gone to the US embassy in Beijing
Chen's escape, Beijing's distrust
Chen's getaway to the American embassy is due to make Thursday's talks even more difficult, which would have been difficult anyway. "Beijing suspects the US could be involved in Chen's escape," China expert and political commentator Willy Lam told DW, adding, "And, they don't want to make the impression that they will give in to American pressure."
The last time a Chinese dissident sought cover at an American embassy was in 1989. After the state's bloody crackdown on the democracy movement, physicist Fang Lizhi fled to the embassy, where he was granted asylum. He stayed at the embassy for a whole year before Beijing grated him the permission to travel to the US.
Experts have referred to a 'strategic distrust' between Washington and Beijing
'Strategic suspicion'
But the world has changed dramatically since then. In 1989, China was a developing country. Today, it is the world's second largest economy. The only thing that trumps the growth of China's monetary reserves is its self-confidence. China wants to play on the same field as the US. But both countries distrust the other. A recent study conducted in cooperation with the American think tank Brookings and Peking University speaks of mutual "strategic suspicion."
But it cannot be due to a lack of communication. Both countries hold talks at over 60 different levels. The annual Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), which started in 2009, is the most significant forum.
This year's dialogue comes at a critical time. US presidential elections will be held in November, and China will also install a new leadership this fall at its 18th party congress. The closer both dates get, the less flexible and accommodating the politicians are likely to be.
Global issues
The US is increasing its presence in the Asia Pacific region
Aside from Chen Guangcheng, a number of global issues will be discussed. Willy Lam said he expected Obama's government to ask China for more help to stop the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs. He also said Washington would be likely ask China to assume a more resolute stance on the Syrian conflict. And he said Beijing was worried about the new US strategy in the Pacific; President Obama received Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in the White House on Monday (April 30) and with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin appealed for US and international help in its territorial dispute with China at a meeting with their counterparts Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta.
The tension is growing in the South China Sea, where a number of countries have overlapping claims to certain territories. These conflicts are expected to be on Thursday's agenda.
Chen's case might be solved by then. According to a New York Times report, a high-ranking official from the American defense ministry was in Beijing on Saturday to negotiate a quick solution to his predicament.
Author: Matthias von Hein / sb
Editor: Shamil Shams
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