BEIJING, Nov. 6 -- Chinese people began to pay
attention to the U.S. presidential election in the late 1970s when the country
first adopted its reform and opening-up policy.
In 1980, for the first time the Chinese people realized
that the presidential race between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his
Republican opponent Ronald Reagan on the other side of the Pacific was so
closely related to affairs of their own country. The result of the election had
an important impact on China in its future development.
Since then, the Chinese people have been keeping a
close watch on who occupies the White House although they do not have a role in
the political games.
In this year's presidential contest, the U.S. foreign
policy toward China was not a contentious issue between candidates Barack Obama
and John McCain although it had remained an outstanding one. However, the two
presidential competitors had much in common on this issue, both saying they
attached great importance to the role China played on major international and
regional issues and they intended to pursue cooperation with China.
It is also their common ground that a stable
Sino-U.S. relationship is in the fundamental interest of the United States,
although they disagreed on some specific topics due to their different
backgrounds and political preferences. But both of them spoke highly of the
current U.S. policy on China adopted by the outgoing Bush administration and
have not cast doubts on the framework of this China strategy. There are good
reasons to believe Obama will carry forward the positive aspects of the U.S.
policy toward China.
Coming from the Democratic camp, the 47-year-old
Obama surely has his own political preferences. Concerning Sino-U.S. relations,
his previous stances on economic and trade issues will have an important
influence.
Over the past year, the side effects of globalization
and President Bush's economic polices have exerted negative impacts upon the
lives of the American middle and lower classes, a main factor underlying their
resentment toward the current political situation. For ordinary American voters,
the political slogans of the vigorous Afro-American contestant have met to a
large degree their political demands, which, in return, have prompted Obama to
further show a strong economic populism and trade protectionism.
For those interest groups whose profits have been
affected by the inflow of made-in-China goods, the Asian nation on the other
side of the Pacific Ocean will naturally become an target of attack. Their
political requirements have thus contributed to Washington's tough attitude on
the exchange rate of China's renminbi and its trade surplus with the U.S.
In the current context of the U.S. economic slump,
trade protectionists have become popular among many Americans. In his run-up to
the presidential election, Obama centered his argument on China around bilateral
trade. He criticized China, citing its currency policy as the main reason for
its galloping trade surplus with the U.S., in the final stage of the
presidential race.
Obama's victory should be attributed to a large
degree to the support of the middle and lower-class American voters. Given the
Democrat's consistent position of safeguarding the interests of these groups of
people, it is very likely that Obama will exert more pressure upon China on
economic and trade issues. Also, considering that the Democrats still control
the majority of U.S. congressional seats, China trade bills, which have always
been pushed by Democratic Congressional members, will possibly pass through the
Congress.
However, the U.S. still needs cooperation from China
in its struggle against the ongoing financial tsunami, which will create certain
conditions for expanded Sino-U.S. cooperation. In the long term, as the world's
two major economic entities, cooperation between China and the U.S. in the
economic realm serves the interests of both countries. Obama's U.S.
administration will fully realize where the U.S. interests lie. It is expected
that the steadily developing China-U.S. economic ties will not reverse the trend
despite possible frictions.
An important feature of the China-U.S. relations in
recent years has been that new issues have been continuously included to bring
changes to bilateral ties. As a new generation political leader, Obama remains
highly sensitive to the many urgent challenges the world is confronted with.
Therefore, the Obama administration is expected to actively promote China-U.S.
coordination in climate change, environmental protection and energy.
Due to differences in stances and interests, it is
difficult for China and the U.S. to reach consensus on their shares of
obligations and responsibilities in these areas. Although the two countries have
begun cooperation in these new areas, it is still a new challenge for them to
finalize a plan that is acceptable to both sides.
As the range of political agendas expands, China and
the U.S. will meet through bilateral as well as multilateral platforms, instead
of bilateral exchanges only. Obama's foreign policy will be characterized by
multilateralism, as he is known for his preference to meet diplomatic goals
through multilateral mechanisms, and has expressed his interest in forging new
multilateral cooperation and dialogues.
We can foresee that, aside from world organizations
including the United Nations, China and the U.S. will remarkably increase
exchanges on global issues and regional security through various international
multilateral mechanisms.
There have been no particular worries among the
Chinese people toward this year's American presidential elections. This reflects
that the Chinese people are viewing the world in a more mature manner, and the
China-U.S. relations are growing more mature, too. It should be read as a
positive sign for the stable development of bilateral relations that the Chinese
are no longer so enthusiastic about the American presidential elections.
The author is a researcher with China Institute of Contemporary
International Relations
(Source: China Daily)
