Ties between the United States and China are unlikely to experience any
immediate or dramatic changes following the unveiling of the Chinese Communist
Party's new top leadership, US-based experts said yesterday.
The new Politburo Standing
Committee (PSC) of seven members, down from nine previously, is composed of
"moderate reformers and conservatives" inclined to favour consistency
in US-China ties, said Dr Elizabeth Economy of the New York-based think-tank
Council on Foreign Relations.
The new line-up left out
"bold-faced reformers" such as Guangdong party secretary Wang Yang
and the party's organisation department head, Li Yuanchao, who were seen as
having championed the need for political and economic reforms, she noted.
Led by newly minted general
secretary Xi Jinping, the PSC is likely to continue to seek engagement and
cooperation with Washington despite occasional tension in bilateral ties, Dr
Economy added.
The seven top men were introduced
to the public yesterday, a week after US President Barack Obama won a second
term in the White House.
During the US election
campaigning, there was some tough talk on China by Obama, but experts say he is
likely to pursue better, more stable relations with Beijing in his second term.
Obama yesterday congratulated Xi,
saying he looked forward to working closely with him to build the US-China
partnership through practical cooperation, according to Xinhua news agency.
In the first four years of the
Obama administration, bilateral ties were uneven and marked by points of
heightened tension over trade conflicts and security issues, including US arms
sales to Taiwan.
Under Obama, Washington has also
undertaken a policy of renewed attention and resources on the Asia-Pacific region.
Its "pivot to Asia" has
raised suspicions in China that it is aimed at containing China's rise.
Speaking in Adelaide yesterday, a
day after the US and Australia held annual security and strategy talks, US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to downplay such concerns, saying that
"the Pacific is big enough for all of us".
Although China and the US have
"not necessarily been on extremely friendly terms, US-China bilateral ties
are so fundamental to China's overall orientation that despite strong voices in
some quarters, in the final analysis, a more mainstream approach will
prevail", said Dr Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institution.
Experts also interpreted the
decision to name Xi as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) as a positive
step, making for a swifter transfer of power than in the past.
Xi will be "empowered in a
way his predecessor Hu Jintao wasn't", said Christopher Johnson of the
Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Hu waited two years before he
could succeed Jiang Zemin as CMC chief. Xi "will be looking less over his
shoulder than Mr Hu had to", Johnson said.
"In their meetings, when Mr
Hu was speaking to President Obama, he was also speaking to other members of
the Chinese leadership as well. Mr Xi probably won't be in that position when
the time comes for him to meet Mr Obama," he added.
Tracy Quek
Business & Investment Opportunities
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