Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) urged an end to a “zero sum” Cold War relationship with the US and proposed new cooperation, but resisted US arguments about why China should let its currency strengthen.
Indeed, in a sign that the future of the US currency continues to concern the most senior levels of the Chinese government, he said the US dollar-based international currency system is a “product of the past.”
Overall though, Hu, who will visit Washington this week, struck an upbeat tone about ties with the US in a rare written interview with two US newspapers, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
“We should abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality,” he said, and “respect each other’s choice of development path.”
Hu suggested cooperation with the US in areas like new energy sources, clean energy, infrastructure development, aviation and space. He also reassured foreign businesses in China that Beijing would continue to improve laws and regulations affecting them.
And he spoke encouragingly about the outlook for resolving tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
However, Hu also indicated he did not accept US arguments for Beijing to let its currency appreciate. Critics say China’s undervaluing of the yuan gives it an unfair price advantage in international trade, contributing to the huge US trade deficit.
Analysts thought Hu’s generally conciliatory tone augured well ahead of his Washington meetings with US President Barack Obama and other officials.
“Hu makes it clear that China intends to move forward on opening its markets, freeing up its exchange rate and restructuring its political system, but at its own pace and with little heed to external pressures for more rapid or broader reforms,” said Eswar Prasad, a Brookings Institution economist.
Hu said China is fighting inflation with a range of policies including interest-rate increases, and “inflation can hardly be the main factor in determining the exchange rate policy.”
He suggested that inflation, which hit a 28-month high in China last November, was not a big headache, saying prices were “on the whole moderate and controllable.”
“We have the confidence, conditions and ability to stabilize the overall price level,” Hu said.
US lawmakers are among the biggest critics of China’s exchange rate policy. Three Democratic senators — Charles Schumer, Debbie Stabenow and Bob Casey — said on Sunday that they would propose legislation to try and fix the problem. The legislation would impose stiff new penalties on countries that the US Treasury Department designated as currency manipulators.
Hu said it would be a “fairly long process” to make China’s own currency an international one.
He also said “the liquidity of the US dollar should be kept at a reasonable and stable level.”
China has argued that the US Federal Reserve’s November decision to buy US$600 billion in US government bonds would undermine the greenback’s value and lead to competitive currency devaluations by other countries. China, with foreign exchange reserves of US$2.85 trillion, is the largest holder of US debt.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS