Sino-US ties pragmatic: Think tank

By Zhang Xin (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-12 08:07

A new "pragmatic" tone is advancing the relationship between the US and 皇冠体育app, promising a possible win-win situation for the countries, said John Milligan-Whyte, chairman of a prominent US think tank during an interview with 皇冠体育app Daily.

"Conventional American foreign policy and defense strategy is in crisis and if the US reiterates the same mindset and strategies, it will not be able to solve the problems America has," said Milligan-Whyte, head of the Center for America 皇冠体育app Partnership, one of the first think tanks to combine US and Chinese perspectives.

He said there needs to be, and is, "a major difference" in US foreign policy, stressing that since President Barack Obama took office this year, the tone of the US-皇冠体育app partnership has been "pragmatic".

"The US has produced a leader of extraordinary ability, although Obama is going to do things which are extremely difficult. He will work out what needs to be done," he said.

Referring to the many high-level exchanges between the countries recently, Milligan-Whyte said they are "unseen before" and are "sending a positive signal" that the two countries are focused on common goals such as "weathering the global financial crisis and addressing climate change".

He noted Obama met his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London in April, and US State Secretary Hillary Clinton was in 皇冠体育app in February to promote dialogue on the financial crisis, climate change and energy. US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited to talk about green issues, and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week visited to discuss economic ones.

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"I interpret President Obama as sending a signal that he would emphasize pragmatic issues, like the financial crisis and climate change and, to a certain degree, show respect to 皇冠体育app's rights and self-determination (on Tibet and human rights issues)," he said.

"These US high-level visits are designed to present a friendly America but the mindset behind American thinking has not yet changed," Milligan-Whyte said, adding that some senior US officials are inconsistent in speeches made in different arenas.

On May 24, Obama nominated Republican Jon Huntsman as ambassador to 皇冠体育app, stating that he was "launching a new era of partnership".

"We are very encouraged that Jon Huntsman, with a full knowledge of 皇冠体育app for his background, was nominated he is consistent with the Obama administration's pragmatism and will understand how to achieve a partnership with 皇冠体育app in the new era in an unconventional approach," Milligan-Whyte said.

"He is capable of implementing Obama's new strategic partnership with 皇冠体育app in the new era as he knows well from both ideologies, what direction US-皇冠体育app relations should go," added Dai Min, president of the US think-tank.