In just over a week, U.S. President Barack Obama will begin his first visit to mainland China as head of state.
According to reports, President Obama is expected to take part in a "town hall"-style activity where he will interact directly with students and youths in Shanghai. Obama is also expected to personally tour the U.S. pavilion at the World Expo and meet with American businesspeople in Shanghai.
He is then expected to visit the capital Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Like his predecessors, Obama will probably also deliver a speech at Tsinghua University or Peking University.
Given the tremendous interaction between the United States and China in recent years, the time is ripe for a summit meeting between Obama and Hu. Following last year's global financial crisis, these two countries have become even more interdependent upon each other, with China financing U.S. debt and U.S. imports fueling China's economic development.
This phenomenon and its effects on the global economy have recently been dubbed the rise of "G-2" or "Chimerica" by some observers, even though the term has been brushed off by both Chinese leaderships and experts.
As to how to address China’s "core interests," one China expert, Bonnie Glaser of the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted by the United Daily News as predicting that Beijing might ask Obama to recognize China's "core interests," a new code phrase meaning China's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet.
Glaser told the paper that Obama's best tactic for dealing with such a request would be to carefully use the neutral word "acknowledge" instead of "recognize," such as by saying the U.S. "acknowledges" Beijing's core interests. (Edited from China Post, TW)
What do you think to expect on the strategies U.S. President would possibly employ to address China's ‘core interests’?
