Wednesday, November 18, 2009
PRESIDENT Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao promised a determined, joint effort to tackle climate change, nuclear disarmament and other global troubles, yet emerged from their first full-blown summit yesterday with scant progress beyond goodwill.
After two hours of talks, the presidents spoke of moving beyond the divisiveness over human rights, trade and military tensions that have bedeviled relations in past decades.
"The major challenges of the 21st century, from climate change to nuclear proliferation to economic recovery, are challenges that touch both our nations, and challenges that neither of our nations can solve by acting alone," Obama said, standing with Hu in the Great Hall of the People.
Hu, who heads a collective leadership that often has preferred to go it alone internationally, said: "There are growing global challenges, and countries in today’s world have become more and more interdependent."
Obama said the US and China want a comprehensive deal at next month’s climate change summit that will "rally the world".
Obama said the goal at the Copenhagen meeting should be an agreement that has "immediate operational effect", not just a political declaration. As the world’s two largest consumers and producers of energy, Obama said the US and China must play a key role in negotiating an agreement. Hu committed to helping, but only within China’s capabilities.
With each of the big issues — from global warming to the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programmes — differences bubbled up in the form of indirect barbs during the joint appearance.
Stung by new US levies on imports of Chinese- made tyres and steel pipes, Hu said given the struggling global economy both countries "need to oppose and reject protectionism in all its manifestations in an even stronger stand".
Obama later called on China to relax controls that keep the Chinese currency relatively weak, helping fuel exports. He also raised human rights, saying they are fundamental to all.
"We do not believe these principles are unique to America, but rather they are universal rights and that they should be available to all peoples, to all ethnic and religious minorities."
On his first visit to China, Obama said he was mostly striving to better understand China: "Our relationship going forward will not be without disagreement or difficulty," Obama said. "But because of our cooperation, both the United States and China are more prosperous and secure."
In a minor advance, the two leaders set a deadline of early next year for resuming an on-again, off-again dialogue on human rights.
Keeping the differences veiled rather than open was a measure of success of sorts for Obama. With its economy still in trouble, US international prestige still battered and China holding $800 billion (€538bn) in US government debt, Obama came to China with a weaker hand than previous US presidents. That makes the emphasis on practical cooperation all the more needed, Chinese analysts said.
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