Morning Bell: Dragon Week

Conn Carroll / January 18, 2011

Chinese President Hu Jintao is set to arrive in Washington, D.C., today, the first leg of a four-day trip to the United States that includes a lavish black-tie White House state dinner tomorrow night. The full “state visit” treatment that Hu will receive, including a joint reviewing of U.S. troops, is being used by the People’s Republic of China to cap Hu’s career as the PRC transitions power to Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang. Beijing is hoping that this trip can celebrate Hu’s career while avoiding any real substantive issues.

For the United States, however, this outcome would be a major mistake. The U.S. has a long list of concerns about Chinese policies that reflect fundamental conflicts of interest between our two countries. Given Beijing’s interest in a smooth and uneventful visit, President Obama should press Hu on several key issues. Specifically, President Obama should seek public commitments to better policies on the economic role of the state, freedom of navigation in the western Pacific, and nuclear proliferation.

And while the public’s attention is briefly focused on China, it is also imperative for Americans to recognize that the PRC leadership has an increasingly capable military at its disposal. That is why The Heritage Foundation is producing “Dragon Week,” a week-long series of research products dedicated to understanding our security relationship with China. Each post will highlight a domain of conflict where the Chinese are advancing while the U.S. is complacent or even retrenching. The four domains are: (more…)