Sino-US trust is still lacking, 30 years on
Buried in US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's testimony in her confirmation hearing before Congress two weeks ago was a subtle challenge to China wrapped in an evident preface to President Barack Obama's emerging policy towards Beijing.
Shortly after, and almost as if on cue, China's leaders published a white paper on defence that pointed warily to what they saw as an increase in American power in Asia.
Mrs Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: 'We want a positive and co-operative relationship with China.' But, she added: 'This is not a one-way effort. Much of what we will do depends on the choices China makes about its future at home and abroad.'
In a written report, Mrs Clinton answered earlier questions from the committee and elaborated on what the US expects: 'We can encourage [China] to become a full and responsible participant in the international community - to join the world in addressing common challenges like climate change and nuclear proliferation - and to make greater progress towards a more open and market-based society. But it is ultimately up to them.'
An interesting sequence here: on January 8, then-deputy secretary of state John Negroponte was in Beijing to mark 30 years of Sino-US diplomatic relations but evidently was not informed of the forthcoming white paper, which took months to prepare. On January 13, Mrs Clinton testified and her written report was made public. On January 20, the day Mr Obama took office, Beijing released its white paper. In substance, Mrs Clinton's testimony suggested that Mr Obama's policy towards China would continue that of president George W. Bush. But the firm tone, challenging China to respond without ambiguity, was new.
Mrs Clinton was non-committal on dialogue with Beijing, writing in her report: 'We are looking carefully at ... how to develop this important engagement with China. We expect high-level engagement to continue in some form.'
However, she was clear on the issues of Taiwan, Tibet , and human rights on the mainland.
On Taiwan, Mrs Clinton followed precedents set earlier. 'The administration's policy will be to help Taiwan and China resolve their differences peacefully while making clear that any unilateral change in the status quo is unacceptable.'
Mrs Clinton said the new administration 'will speak out for the human rights and religious freedom of the people of Tibet '. She also said the administration would 'press China on our concerns about human rights at every opportunity and at all levels'. Beijing, in its defence white paper, contended that it 'faces strategic manoeuvres and containment from the outside'.
US presidents, secretaries of state and defence, military chiefs and ambassadors have sought for much of the last 30 years to persuade Chinese leaders that the US poses no threat, apparently without success.
Richard Halloran is a former New York Times foreign correspondent in Asia and military correspondent in Washington
