【英语中国】中美赞赏对话成果 向平等伙伴转型

The most wide-ranging dialogue in the history of modern U.S.-China relations ended with some accord on contentious issues of currency and trade, and underlined a fundamental shift in a relationship that is being recast on both sides as a partnership between equals.

Although China offered few major concessions in two days of discussions at the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which ended on Tuesday, officials from both sides hailed the outcome.

China pledged to gradually reform its currency-exchange rate, without offering any timetable. On Beijing's drive to promote 'indigenous innovation,' which foreign companies fear is a protectionist ploy, China held out hope of a resolution within the World Trade Organization. And Beijing promised to 'work together with the U.S. and other parties' to resolve the crisis over allegations that North Korea torpedoed a Southern patrol vessel, but it gave no specifics.

'This is progress,' said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, referring to China's response to American complaints about 'indigenous innovation' policies that threaten to exclude foreign companies from a government procurement market worth billions of dollars each year. 'It does not fully resolve our concerns, but it gives us a set of basic principles on which to move forward,' he told a closing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton alluded to a plunge in ties earlier this year when China reacted with fury to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, and to President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama. Beijing accuses Tibet's spiritual leader of fomenting independence for the Himalayan region.

'In an earlier era we might have experienced a lasting setback,' she said. 'This dialogue . . . helped put us rapidly back on a positive track.'

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan was also enthusiastic. 'We are now able to manage the differences and problems arising in the course of our relationship in a more rational and mature manner,' he said.

Still, the Obama administration's expectations for an all-embracing and energetic partnership with the potential to address global challenges such as climate change and reshape the world economy has been tempered by plodding progress on key issues.

Pressure is likely to grow on Mr. Geithner to secure more than just soothing words from Beijing on the yuan. There is the potential that U.S. lawmakers will allow China more latitude given the sovereign-debt crisis in Europe and the fall in the value of the euro, which have combined to damage Chinese exports to its largest market. But lawmakers are likely to press for China to be formally declared a currency manipulator if there is no movement by Beijing.

The high-level dialogue involving some 200 U.S. officials -- among the largest official delegations ever to leave U.S. shores -- in some ways is a bellwether for relations between a global superpower and an Asian giant that has extended its influence and power by successfully navigating the global economic crisis.

The carefully choreographed theater surrounding the dialogue illustrates China's new sophistication in managing its public image. Without any significant compromise, the Chinese government managed to garner plaudits from top U.S. officials and signaled to a domestic audience its new importance in global affairs.

For its part, Washington's gestures of gratitude were partly designed to give cover to Chinese officials as they prepare to give real ground on issues such as the currency-exchange rate.

Instead of openly prodding China over issues such as currency, U.S. officials are pursuing patient diplomacy, offering China wide latitude to set its own timetable. In part, this reflects the reality that Chinese officials are less likely to budge if they are seen by a domestic audience to be caving to American pressure.

Iran illustrates the opportunities and the limits of the collaboration. Even though Washington won Beijing's agreement on a draft United Nations sanctions resolution against Iran this month, it did so only after watering down its original proposal to suit China, making it appear that China was a reluctant follower and sending an ambiguous signal to Tehran about Chinese resolve.

In Beijing, the wide gap between Chinese and U.S. strategic interests was on stark display over North Korea. On Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton said the U.S. and China must 'work together to address the crisis provoked by the sinking of a South Korean ship,' referring to North Korea's alleged torpedoing of a Southern patrol vessel in March.

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo wouldn't be drawn, offering only stock phrases of concern. 'Relevant parties should proceed on the basis of safeguarding the overall interest of peace and stability in the region and calmly and appropriately handle the issue and avoid escalation of the situation,' he said.

Later, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai went slightly further, offering to 'work together with the U.S. and other parties and continue to stay in close touch on the situation in the Korean peninsula.' China has yet to comment on the findings last week of an international investigation that the Cheonan corvette was sunk by a North Korean torpedo.

Whatever differences were aired behind closed doors at the dialogue were papered over in public remarks.

On the yuan's exchange rate, President Hu Jintao on Monday went no further than to repeat a longstanding pledge to gradually implement reform. Some in the U.S. argue that Beijing, by keeping the yuan pegged to the dollar, weakens its currency to aid Chinese exporters, to the detriment of U.S. manufacturers.

Yet Mr. Hu's comment was sufficient to elicit a warm response from the U.S. side. China's Assistant Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said that Mr. Geithner had characterized Mr. Hu's comments on the yuan as 'very, very, very' encouraging and important. There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. side on the accuracy of Mr. Zhu's portrayal.

Mr. Geithner has been at pains to argue that exchange rate reform is in China's own interest, and up to China to decide. Whether China makes a move, he said on Tuesday, 'is, of course, China's choice.'

The Treasury secretary offered a positive assessment of China's response to virtually the entire list of prominent complaints that the U.S. brought to the meeting in the leafy grounds of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

He singled out China's commitment to submit a revised offer to join the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement by July, a move that would apply international standards to the Chinese government's purchases from the private sector, including foreign companies. China missed a similar self-imposed deadline in 2009 after the first Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

The U.S. State Department announced a list of 26 specific results from the dialogue, which ranged from training for maritime search and rescue operations to a safety accord for nuclear reactors to a conference on illegal logging.

Both sides have made concessions. The U.S. Treasury department delayed a crucial decision on whether to label China a currency manipulator just prior to Mr. Hu's April trip to Washington. The Obama administration is planning to ease controls on some high-tech exports, a move long sought by China.

Leaders of the U.S. delegation went out of their way to add a homey touch to their serious business in Beijing. On Sunday, Mr. Geithner played basketball with Chinese high school students before he and Mrs. Clinton sat for a joint interview on the Chinese-language Phoenix TV channel. The host, Chen Luyu, teased Mr. Geithner by asking him whether he is really 'one of the best looking guys in the administration,' and got Mrs. Clinton to talk about her and her husband's taste in movies (she likes romance, he likes action).

After the dialogue, said Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University and former head of the China desk at the International Monetary Fund, 'both sides can claim victory for having raised their concerns clearly and making progress on issues their respective domestic constituencies care about.'

中美战略与经济对话是两国近代以来涉及最广的沟通对话，今年两国在汇率及贸易等争议性问题上达成了若干协议，凸显出两国关系出现了朝向平等合作伙伴转型的根本变化。

虽然中国方面在此次战略与经济对话中几乎没有做出重大让步，但两国官员均对沟通成果高度赞赏。本次为期两天的对话已于周二结束。

中国承诺要逐步推行人民币汇率改革，但并未给出时间表。外国企业担心北京方面推动“自主创新”的努力是在变相搞贸易保护主义，中国政府则表示将在世界贸易组织(WTO)框架内寻求解决这一问题。中国还承诺与美国等各方合作解决朝鲜鱼雷被指击沉韩国天安舰一事所引发的危机，但中方并未就此给出任何细节信息。

美国企业抱怨中国的“自主创新”政策可能将它们挤出每年价值数十亿美元的政府采购市场，美国财长盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)认为中方对美企怨言所做的回应是个进步。他说，虽然中方表态并未完全化解我们的担忧，但它设立了若干推进此事解决的基本原则。盖特纳是在于人民大会堂举行的闭幕式上做此表述的。

Getty Images在中美战略与经济对话的一次会面中，美国财长盖特纳（左）和中国总理温家宝握手。美国国务卿希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)间接提到了中美两国关系在今年早些时候遭遇的寒流。当时中国对美国向台湾出售武器及总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)接见达赖喇嘛(Dalai Lama)做出了激烈反应。中国政府一直指责达赖喇嘛煽动西藏谋求独立。

克林顿说，之前两国关系可能经历了一段长时间的倒退，但此次对话帮助我们很快回到了良性发展的轨道。

中国副总理王岐山也表达了积极乐观看法。他说，现在中美能够以一种更理性成熟的态度来解决两国关系发展中出现的分歧和问题。

不过，两国在一些关键问题上进展迟缓，令奥巴马政府所抱有的与中国建立全面积极合作伙伴关系，力求解决气候变化、重塑世界经济等全球重大问题的愿望打了折扣。

盖特纳肩上的压力可能会越来越大，美国可能会要求他敦促中国在人民币汇率问题上除了说宽心话之外拿出更多实际动作。考虑到欧洲是中国最大的出口市场，当地爆发的主权债务危机及欧元汇率下跌给中国出口带来了冲击，美国国会议员可能会在人民币汇率问题上给予中国更多空间。但是，如果中国方面没有采取行动，议员们可能会要求正式给中国贴上汇率操纵国的标签。

此轮高级别对话约有200名美国官员参加，是美国派往海外的规模最大的代表团之一，从某些方面讲，也预示了全球超级大国美国和通过安度全球经济危机而扩大了影响力和势力的亚洲大国中国之间关系的未来走势。

围绕对话精心营造的氛围彰显出中国在管理公共形像方面变得更加成熟。在未做出任何重大让步的情况下，中国政府就获得了美国高层官员的赞扬，并向国内公众显示了其在全球事务中新的重要性。

就华盛顿方面来说，它摆出赞赏的姿态，部分原因是为中国官员在准备就汇率等问题作出切实让步时提供借口。

美国官员没有在汇率等问题上公开敦促中国，而是寻求耐心外交，给予中国相当大的自由来制定自己的时间表。从某种角度上，这反映出了这样一个现实：如果中国官员被国内公众视为是在向美国的压力低头，他们就不太可能做出让步。

伊朗问题凸显出了中美两国合作的机遇和局限性。即使华盛顿方面本月在联合国制裁伊朗的决议草案上赢得了北京方面的支持，那也是在它将最初的议案弱化以迎合中国之后，让中国看起来是个不情愿的支持者，在中国的决定上向伊朗发出模糊信号。

在北京，中美战略利益上的巨大差异在朝鲜问题上鲜明显现。周二，克林顿说，中美必须联手应对韩国天安号军舰沉没事件所引发的危机。她指的是朝鲜涉嫌在3月份用鱼雷击沉韩国的巡逻舰“天安号”。

中国国务委员戴秉国没有深入探讨这个话题，他只是用套话表示了关切。他说，维护该地区和平稳定至关重要，希望当前形势下相关各方从大局出发，保持冷静克制，稳妥处理此事，避免局势紧张升级。

之后，中国外交部副部长崔天凯又略微进了一步。他说，针对朝鲜半岛的情势，中国预备与美国及其他各方合作，并持续保持密切联系。中国尚未对上周国际社会对“天安号”的调查结果发表置评；调查发现“天安号”是被一枚朝鲜鱼雷击沉的。

无论对话期间双方私下表达了怎样的分歧，都不会在公开场合表露出来。

在人民币汇率方面，中国国家主席胡锦涛周一只是重复了长期以来有关渐进改革的承诺，此外并没有什么新的内容。美国一些人认为，中国政府一直让人民币盯住美元，压低了人民币汇率，从而对中国出口商有利而对美国制造商不利。

但胡锦涛的话还是引起了美方的热烈响应。中国财政部部长助理朱光耀说，盖特纳曾说胡锦涛有关人民币的言论“非常非常非常”鼓舞人心，也非常重要。朱光耀的描述是否确切，暂时还没有得到美方的证实。

盖特纳一直竭力主张，汇改符合中国自身利益，应由中国自己决定。他在周二说，中国是否采取行动当然是中国的选择。

美方在这场于钓鱼台国宾馆举行的对话中提出了一系列引人注目的不满，而中国对所有这些不满的回应都获得了盖特纳的积极评价。

盖特纳还单独提到，中方承诺在7月份以前提交一份修改后的出价，以加入世界贸易组织政府采购协议(WTO Agreement on Government Procurement)。此举将使中国政府在从包括外企在内的私营部门采购时遵从国际标准。2009年，首轮战略与经济对话过后，中国未能在自己设定的一个类似期限之前完成任务。

美国国务院公布了对话产生的26项具体成果，包括宣布两国间开展海上搜救培训、签署一份核反应堆安全协议、同意举行一场有关打击木材非法采伐的会议等等。

双方都做了让步。胡锦涛4月份访问华盛顿前夕，美国财政部把是否认定中国为汇率操纵国的重要决定往后推迟。奥巴马政府正在打算放宽对一些高技术产口的出口限制，这正是中国长期以来所希望的。

美国代表团的领导人在他们的严肃公事之外，还特意加进了一些亲和元素。盖特纳周日同中国高中生打了一场篮球赛，然后和希拉里•克林顿一起接受了凤凰卫视(Phoenix TV)的采访。主持人陈鲁豫逗笑地问盖特纳是不是本届政府中最帅的人之一，并引导希拉里谈起了她和丈夫在电影方面的偏好（她本人喜欢爱情片，丈夫喜欢动作片）。

康奈尔大学(Cornell University)教授、曾在国际货币基金组织(International Monetary Fund)任中国部负责人的普拉萨德(Eswar Prasad)说，经过这场对话，双方都可以宣告胜利，因为它们都清楚地表达了自己的关切，并在各自国内民众所关心的议题上取得了进展。