Obama's China visit no panacea to global woes

ALL eyes are on US President Barack Obama's first visit to China and reactions by regional experts interviewed by The Brunei Times have been mixed as to how the relations between the two economic giants can help fix the world's economic woes.

Some hope the visit would lead to positive outcomes while others doubt such visit could be interpreted as a sign that long-term relations between US and China have improved and, therefore, positively impact on efforts to mend a global economy hurt by turmoil.

Bantarto Bandoro, chairman of the Indonesian Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Jakarta, observed that US-China, said: "Obama's visit to China signals the importance of China in US foreign policy and world politics in general."

However, their future relations will be dependent on how the leaders overcome critical issues on the bilateral level, while at the same time it is expected that the relations will bring positive impact in tackling the global economic crisis, he told The Brunei Times.

There are, however, economic challenges that may not be resolved in the medium term and this would continue to contribute to the uneasiness in US-China relations, said Professor Chandra Muzaffar, president of the International Movement for a Just World (Just), a Malaysia-based international non-governmental organisation.

"The impact of Obama's visit to China on Asia will hopefully be a positive one, provided that both countries restrain themselves from taking any policy initiatives that will jeopardise the national interests of the respective countries and the stability of the region as a whole," Bantarto said.

"On the global level, it is expected that the two countries will lay stronger ground to solve the current global economic and financial crisis. It is to say that stronger and sustainable partnership between US and China will result in more constructive and stable international relations," he added.

Professor Chandra said that for China what is critical now is the ability of US President to resist growing pressures for protectionist policies from the US Congress and powerful lobbies directed primarily at China, which enjoys a huge trade surplus with the US. The US, meanwhile, is looking for some indication from China to facilitate the appreciation of the yuan currency to make American goods more competitive in the Chinese market.

"However, it (US-China relations) will not impact adversely upon Asean ties with the two nations or viceversa. Neither will it have disastrous consequences for the world, except that it would thwart the potential for meaningful cooperation between the world's first and third largest economies in addressing the current global economic crisis," said Chandra.

"A single visit (by Obama) will not set the tone and tenor of US-China relations," he said.

Both prominent scholars said that the two nations are expected to work together to resolve the current economic downturn. Bantarto said that the most important areas of US-China cooperation will be in trade. Both countries experienced ups and downs in their trade relations as US was suffered great loss, while China enjoyed tremendous trade surpluses. Both nations, moreover, should build commitment to fight against piracy of commercial products, he added.

The Brunei Times