What Does the Future Look Like With China’s Future “Leader” Xi

Visiting China VP urges US to ‘promote trust – Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed President Hu Jintao in 2013

AFP

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said Washington should adopt “concrete measures to promote mutual trust” at the start of a visit to the United States, reports AFP.

Xi, widely expected to become China’s next leader, will later Tuesday meet US President Barack Obama in a key early test for Washington’s relations with the man on course to lead the Asian power for the next decade.

“We hope the US side could view China in an objective and rational way, and adopt concrete measures to promote mutual trust, especially to properly and discreetly handle the issues concerning the core interests of China,” he said Monday, in remarks carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

“We should deal with friction and differences in bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the spirit of seeking mutual benefits and win-win results through a positive and constructive way,” he said.

Xi also expressed hope that US election-year politics would not have a “regrettable impact” on ties between the world’s two largest economies.

He spoke during a meeting here with several former top US officials, including former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, in his first event in a week-long visit to the United States.

Chinese presidents generally serve two five-year terms, meaning Xi could be in charge when some experts forecast that China will surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy.

The 58-year-old is expected to try to show a gentler side to the US public — and perhaps also to television viewers in China — when he tours the farm state of Iowa, where he paid a formative first US visit in 1985, and Los Angeles.

The United States and China have had an increasingly fractious relationship, and US officials have pledged to press Xi on concerns including China’s currency, which US lawmakers say is undervalued to boost its exports.

The dispute has been amplified in debates among Republican candidates battling for the right to take on Obama in November presidential elections, who have accused the president of being soft on Beijing.

China has watched uneasily as the Obama administration steps up military ties with its neighbours including the Philippines and Vietnam, which have turned to the United States amid heated territorial disputes with Beijing.

In a written interview with The Washington Post, Xi said that he welcomed a “constructive” US role in East Asia’s security but warned not to “deliberately give prominence to the military security agenda.”

But in an unusual step, Xi will Tuesday visit the Pentagon and be welcomed with a full honour ceremony with music and cannons, weather permitting.

China’s Future “Leader” Visits the United States | DC

What Does the Future Look Like With China’s Future “Leader” Xi | Democracy, elections, and voting at Democracy Chronicles