Reading the Sino-US Joint Statement

Yue Liu， Nov. 19, 2009, Beijing

The visiting of American President Barack Obama to China brought a warm front to the China-U.S. relationship. The Chinese Premier Hu Jintao and the American President issued a Sino-US Joint Statement, in which both countries reached several common understanding and set out future goals. There are five key points worth analyzing.

1. Partnership
In the history of China-US diplomatic history, this is not the first time China and US have proposed to form partnership. During the Clinton Administration, U.S. and China had proposed a higher level of partnership. The Obama Administration’s new proposal is a symbolic gesture of two super nations’ cooperation and stable relationship in this new world power distribution. China-US relations have always been a complicated issue. The proposal in forming a new partnership is a general effort to provide a guideline to fortify and improve the two nations’ diplomatic relationship. The details of cooperation have to be worked out in the future.

2. Anti-Trade Protectionism
Recently, there are some trade conflicts between China and the US caused by local protectionism relating to the two countries’ different national interests. The joint statement between the two nations’ leaders set the goal of opposing any forms of local trade protectionism, aimed to reduce conflicts in the China-US international trade. However, this temporary measure does not mean it will smooth all the trade conflicts in the future. Some trade conflicts are still unavoidable. The two nations still need to explore more practical solutions together.

3. Fight Global Warming
During Obama’s visit, China and US took a positive step toward fighting global climate change and utilize clean energy. That is to establish the China-US Clean Energy Research Center. Both sides have reached detailed investment agreement and determined research projects. The two supper energy consuming nations forming a clean energy research center is a form advance in the environmental field and bring positive impacts to the Copenhagen Conference in December.

4. High Level Military Visits
In the China-US relationship, military conversations seem to be falling behind other aspects of cooperation, such as economic and technology. The Chinese Vice Chairman of Military Committee’s visit to the US in recent time signaled the future high level military cooperation between China and the US. However, in terms of the sensitive issues such as export/import policies can not be solved in a very near future.
5. Human Rights Dialog
During the Bush administration, the two nations had dialogues in regards to human rights. But during the Obama visit, the two nations proposed detailed time frame for the human right dialog in a joint statement. This signals the positive and practical attitudes of the two countries toward solving their differences in the human rights issue.