US officials' visit may 'save' ties

BEIJING - Washington is sending two senior officials to Beijing starting on Tuesday in what analysts describe as an effort to "save" the bilateral relationship, which has taken a beating following a series of "disturbing actions" by the US in recent weeks.

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Senior White House Asia adviser Jeffrey Bader are expected to be in Beijing until Thursday for talks on a wide range of issues, the foreign ministry's website quoted spokesman Qin Gang as saying on Saturday.

The US officials are expected to also engage Beijing on issues of mutual concern, such as Iran's nuclear program, analysts said.

Beijing "accepted" a US offer for dialogue, the statement said, without specifying which Chinese officials would be meeting with the US envoys.

Steinberg, the No 2 in the US State Department, notably coined the phrase "strategic reassurance" late last year to describe US-China relations, suggesting that Washington should welcome China's arrival as a global power, even as China reassures the US and its neighbors that its rise would not run counter to their interests.

As a senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council, Jeffrey Bader - dubbed a "China-hand" - served as director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, a leading Washington-based foreign policy think tank.

"Neither China nor the US hope to see their ties stay strained," the Shanghai based-Oriental Morning Post newspaper commented in a recent article. "After a series of mis-steps, there seems to be some sign showing that the political deadlock might be breaking."

After "a series of disturbing actions", the US has started to make efforts to "save" bilateral ties, Beijing News daily said of the upcoming visit.

Bilateral relations have been strained after the US announced in January that it was planning to sell arms to Taiwan and US President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama last month.

Such tensions risk complicating the cooperation the US seeks from China on a range of global issues ranging from the financial crisis to climate change, the Associated Press news agency said.

Steinberg may invite senior Chinese officials to the US, and may also urge the nation's leaders to attend a nuclear security conference in Washington in April, said Da Wei, an American studies expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

The two officials are visiting Beijing to clarify issues of mutual concern, such as the Iran nuclear program and the exchange rate of the yuan.

"Certainly, there is also the possibility that the US will press China (on these issues), or just explain its stance and views," Da added.

Jin Canrong, an international relations expert at Renmin University of China, said Sino-US ties currently were "very subtle".

"It's just a start by the US to save strained bilateral ties," Jin said. "In this round of mediation, China should continue to express its stance on Washington's arms sales to Taiwan and the Dalai Lama issue to press the US to avoid any more harm to bilateral ties."

The AP said President Hu Jintao is expected to visit Washington later this year.

(China Daily 03/01/2010 page11)