Dialogue with Ni Feng
- Source: Global Times
- [15:46 November 12 2009]
- Comments
Ni Feng, researcher at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Global Times: Compared with his predecessors, Barack Obama is the first US president to visit China in the first year of his term. And high-level officials from both sides have interacted frequently in this year. Do you think it means that the US’ policy on China has changed? Or is it’s Obama’s expedient measures due to the financial crisis?
Ni: In fact, the strategic shift of the US’ policy toward China began from Obama’s predecessor, the Bush administration. In 2005, the US held a great debate on China policy and discussed World Bank President Robert Zoellick call for China to be a "responsible stakeholder" is a new direction on China policy. The US recognizes China’s increasing strength and no longer regards China as a “free rider”. From the US perspective, the “China issue” has become the “China’s rise issue”.
After Obama took the presidency, he has continued his predecessor’s basic policy on China and inherited part of the China policy of the post-Bush administration. If anything has changed, Obama expects more from China and hopes it will shoulder more international responsibilities. When he first took office, Obama not only suffers from a severe financial crisis, Iran and N. Korean nuclear issues, but has to be more dependent on China.
