Obama, Hu will seek to re-set ties

US: President Barack Obama and China’s Hu Jintao will strive to put a rocky 2010 behind them and cast themselves as partners rather than rivals at a state visit this month between the world’s two biggest powers.

But a trust deficit as big as the trade gap between Beijing and Washington may hover over the visit, even as Obama fetes Hu with a black-tie dinner and a 21-gun salute and holds talks with him on issues like North Korea and the global economy.

With the world still struggling with economic woes and wrestling with grave environmental and security threats, the significance of the Chinese President’s visit cannot be overstated. The Jan. 19 event is being billed as the most important state visit in 30 years.

“The goal of these meetings isn’t tied to some watershed moment but towards the long-term process of deepening the relationship,” said David Rothkopf, a foreign policy expert and former Clinton administration official.

“Necessarily, the meeting between the heads of the two most important countries is as significant a summit as can happen.”

Obama has said he believes the U.S.-China relationship will shape the 21st century.

One long-term challenge is navigating the transition to a relationship of equals, and some experts are skeptical this can be done smoothly.

Washington, Monday, Reuters