Obama Fails to Convince China’s Ruling Élite
THE TELEGRAPH: America and China have been forced to agree to disagree on a wide range of issues following several hours of talks between US president Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing.

Despite reaffirming the importance of deeper US-China co-operation to world peace and stability, the two sides were unable to disguise the deep differences that separate them on trade, security, climate change and human rights.

Speaking after the talks which formed the centrepiece of Mr Obama's five day tour of Asia, the two presidents laid out their separate positions on key issues during a press conference at which no questions were allowed.

Trade protectionism was high on the agenda with the US and China currently embroiled in its worst round of trade spats since China entered the World Trade Organisation in 2002.

"I stressed to President Obama that under the current circumstances our two countries need to oppose and reject protectionism in all its manifestations in an even stronger stance," Mr Hu said, in a thinly veiled attack on recent US trade measures against Chinese goods.

On Monday a poll by the CNN news network found that more than 70 per cent of Americans viewed China as a threat to the US, putting further domestic pressure on Mr Obama to protect US industries from cheap Chinese imports.

Mr Hu studiously avoided mention of China's currency, which the International Monetary Fund has warned is undervalued, but was prodded firmly on the long-standing issue of contention by Mr Obama. China: talks between Barack Obama and Hu Jintao yield few agreements >>> Peter Foster in Beijing | Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Barack Obama: US and China Will Shape 21st Century
THE TELEGRAPH: US President Barack Obama said the US and China will "shape the course of the 21st century" as he opened high-level talks in Washington.

To the satisfaction of the Chinese at talks designed to usher in a new era of friendship, "not confrontation", Mr Obama said that the ties between the two powers were "as important as any bilateral relationship in the world".

"That reality must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility we bear," he said at the first meeting of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington.

In recognition of the importance of the two-day summit it has been described by analysts in the US as the "G2", after the G8 and G20 gatherings.

Mr Obama said he was under "no illusions that the United States and China will agree on every issue", but insisted closer co-operation on a range of challenges from lifting the global economy to nuclear proliferation and climate change was vital for the whole world.

In what appeared to be a co-ordinated new slogan, both Mr Obama and Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, who sent a message to the meeting, said they sought a "positive, constructive, and comprehensive relationship".

The talks are a revamped version of a meeting launched by George W Bush that focused solely on economic issues.

The new dialogue, to be held every year in alternate capitals, involves the US state department and Chinese foreign ministry and firmly underlines China's growing global footprint.

Beijing sent 150 officials to Washington for dozens of meetings with their US counterparts, bringing much of the capital to a virtual standstill.

The Chinese are still sensitive about their inferior status and pushed hard for Mr Obama to open the meeting, according to sources close to the administration, because "they are still looking for validation".

But the hosts were happy to pay tribute to China's ascendance and were optimistic about its ability to act as a responsible member of the global community.

Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, made only brief reference to China's poor human rights record, which used to loom much larger in discussions. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, July 27, 2009

LE FIGARO: Obama propose un axe Pékin-Washington

Le président américain Barack Obama, lundi, lors de la première session de «dialogue stratégique et économique» entre les États-Unis et la Chine à Washington avec, de gauche à droite, le conseiller d'État chinois Dai Bingguo, le vice-premier ministre Wang Qishan et la secrétaire d'État américaine Hillary Clinton. Crédits photo : Le Figaro

Le président américain a plaidé lundi pour une coopération tous azimuts entre les deux pays.

Le président Obama a ouvert,lundi, deux jours de «dialogue stratégique et économique» entre les États-Unis et la Chine à Washington en rappelant que les relations entre les deux pays vont «façonner le vingt et unième siècle». Au menu de ces rencontres : ­­­l'économie, le réchauffement climatique, la prolifération et les menaces transnationales.

«Je crois que nous sommes sur le point de progresser sur quelques-unes des questions les plus importantes de notre temps», a dit le président américain, même s'il se dit «sans illusion» sur le fait que la Chine et les États-Unis pourraient être «d'accord sur tout».

Le ministre des Finances américain, Tim Geithner, s'était félicité de la réaction rapide des deux pays qui a permis d'«atténuer» les effets de la crise mais le dialogue à ce sujet reste crispé. Barack Obama souligne que «les choix effectués à l'intérieur de nos frontières ont un impact sur l'économie globale» et qu'en conséquence les États-Unis restent partisans d'une «forte coordination bilatérale et multilatérale».

Il évoque les points sur lesquels des avancées assureront un redressement solide : transparence et réforme réglementaire, libre-échange, un cycle de Doha «ambitieux et équilibré», réforme des institutions internationales pour donner à la Chine une place qui correspond à son rôle actuel. Barack Obama note que la Chine peut être «un immense marché» pour les États-Unis. Il ne parle pas directement du sujet qui fâchait déjà sous l'Administration Bush et qui continue à créer la tension ces jours-ci : la ­question des devises, sur laquelle on a connu Tim Geithner plus sanguin.

Le dialogue, limité aux questions économiques par l'Administration Bush, a été élargi pour forger une relation «complète» et refléter des priorités nouvelles pour les États-Unis, comme le réchauffement climatique. Les deux pays sont les plus grands consommateurs d'énergie et les plus grands pollueurs (ils produisent 42 % des gaz toxiques). Barack Obama espère qu'ils développeront ensemble les énergies propres pour un «redressement à faible taux de carbone». >>> Nathalie Mattheiem, à New York | Mardi 28 Juillet 2009