Sino–U.S. Relations Facing Real Challenges

Sino–U.S. relations in 2010 have abruptly reversed direction and some analysts even predict that they will get worse.

With regards to Google’s consideration of withdrawing from China, both Chinese and U.S. officials initially regarded it as a small issue that would not affect overall Sino–U.S. relations. Later on, however, President Obama suddenly voiced his concerns over the cyber attack against Google. Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters in Washington that the White House expects China to explain the cyber attacks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out how the Internet positively influenced China’s progress and called on Beijing not to limit free access to information or to infringe upon the basic rights of Internet users.

In fact, Google and Beijing authorities have experienced friction on many occasions. The Chinese government requires that Google operate according to its regulations by filtering sensitive and pornographic content. At this point, Google does not think the attack originated from the Chinese government. Obama has voiced his concerns regarding this issue, which makes people worry about the state of Sino–U.S. relations this year.

American political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group has listed the 10 biggest potential risks of the year: U.S.–China relations topped the list, followed by Iran. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., holds the view that the relationship with China will enter a year characterized by danger and instability. The Center for American Progress remarked that this year, Sino–U.S. relations will face real challenges. The first of these is the Google controversy and the second is the arms sale to Taiwan. The third is the U.S. government’s concern about China’s human rights record and the fourth is the Dalai Lama. The current U.S. Ambassador to China has said that Obama will be meeting with the Dalai Lama, as previous presidents have.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs He Yafei and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu have both openly requested that the U.S. carefully handle the issues of the arms sale to Taiwan, the meeting with the Dalai Lama and the economic and trade frictions. Barack Obama deliberately created a honeymoon period with China last year because he wanted support from China to deal with the financial crisis, terrorism and nuclear issues, which explains why he put off meeting the Dalai Lama and delayed implementing arms sales to Taiwan. This year, Obama is simply doing what American presidents normally do. The honeymoon period was not normal; friction in the Sino–U.S. relationship is normal.

Trade issues and human rights concerns are old topics in Sino–U.S. relations and both sides have had 30 years of experience in handling these problems. At present, however, the most sensitive issue is that of Taiwan.