Obama in Beijing

How do you say ungrateful in Chinese? This question must have tantalized Barack Obama when he was leaving Beijing, Wednesday, November 18th, after four days of the first official visit to China. Because, at first sight, the American president was not paid in return for the new tone that he adopted in his address to China.

Mr. Obama believes the Chinese-American relationship will shape the 21st century. He spoke about China as a partner, not as a rival of the United States. He strove to avoid giving lessons, notably on the subject of human rights. While he may have hoped that Beijing would restart dialogue with the religious leaders of Tibet, he took care not to receive the Dalai Lama before his trip; during his visit, he did not meet with any liberal Chinese figure or courageous advocates who seek to redress their country’s bleak record on liberties.

What did he get in return? Publicly, not much. Nothing on Iran. The Chinese leaders did not want to hear about new sanctions to force the Islamic Republic to conform to its nuclear obligations. Nothing on North Korea. The principal support of the Pyongyang regime, Beijing closes its eyes on the most menacing activities of the North Koreans.

Mr. Obama is right to speak as an equal with China: in [the past] 20 years, the latter has become an indispensable economic partner to America. This is a dialectic relationship. The American consumer buys a large part of what “the workshop of the world” manufactures and, in doing so, said consumer becomes indebted. China buys the American debt–in the form of American Treasury bonds–financing America’s deficits. If the United States closes its borders, the social equilibrium of China is threatened; if Beijing ceases to subscribe to the American Treasury bonds, the financial equilibrium of the United States is threatened… This structural relationship is unhealthy. The accumulation of dollars on one side, debt on the other is one of the great imbalances that led to the current economic and financial crisis.

Mr. Obama’s visit did not represent the emergence of an American-Chinese duopoly that would dictate its [own] conduct in the world. On the contrary, [Obama’s visit] underlines the depth of the disagreements between the two countries. Washington rebukes the fact that the exchange rate of the yuan is overvalued; the Chinese denounce the American protectionist temptations. They speak as equals, it’s true. But in order to do what exactly?