TWO MONTHS after a high-profile visit to China, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is planning a December return -- this time accompanied by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke as well as a handful of fellow Cabinet members. The visit is the first in a series of biannual meetings and reflects Mr. Paulson's conviction that high-level intergovernment contacts can help promote policy breakthroughs. It's a worthy effort, but there's no certain payoff. U.S. officials have spent the past few years urging China to rein in its trade surplus, which causes an imbalance in the world economy as well as impatience in Congress. But China's surplus has nonetheless ballooned defiantly....
Back to Beijing
TWO MONTHS after a high-profile visit to China, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is planning a December return -- this time accompanied by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke as well as a handful of fellow Cabinet members. The visit is the first in a series of biannual meetings and reflects Mr. Paulson's conviction that high-level intergovernment contacts can help promote policy breakthroughs. It's a worthy effort, but there's no certain payoff. U.S. officials have spent the past few years urging China to rein in its trade surplus, which causes an imbalance in the world economy as well as impatience in Congress. But China's surplus has nonetheless ballooned defiantly....