A Tough Trek Toward Common Ground in China

Paulson Sets Out to Ease Tension By Sticking to Areas of Agreement

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson finds common cause with China on environmental issues. Climate change is destroying Qinghai Lake. (By Ariana Eunjung Cha -- The Washington Post)

QINGHAI LAKE, China -- The mightiest financial officer of the U.S. government squinted at a pile of manure as Chinese villagers explained how they used a metal contraption to capture gas from the waste for use as cooking fuel.

Henry M. Paulson Jr., secretary of the Treasury, nodded as he grasped the details of the energy project. He told the villagers that he grew up on a farm where manure was used as fertilizer. "So what did you use to cook?" they asked.

Paulson was in China trying to salvage an increasingly fragile relationship between the two countries after months of clashes over trade and the safety of China's exports. He paid attention to every nuance of a Chinese tour this week, manure included, as he sought to salve his hosts' wounded pride.

Paulson is the point man as the Bush administration seeks to avert a tit-for-tat trade war with China. Paulson, who began his four-day trip Sunday in a remote province of western China, said in an interview that his goal was to focus on areas where the two countries can agree.

Hence the visit to homes in rural China participating in biogas experiments. Paulson also watched birds on the shore of a lake that is disappearing because of climate change, and he hiked sand dunes on the Tibetan Plateau that a half-century ago was prime grazing land for sheep.

The environment is an area that is "easier to cooperate on," Paulson said. "It's something the Chinese have common ground with members of Congress on."

At least three U.S. government teams are in Beijing this week talking about cooperation with their counterparts.

In addition to Paulson, representatives of the Food and Drug Administration are conducting high-level talks about food and drug safety, and the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is to announce today in Beijing that it will advise the People's Bank of China on insuring deposits.

The trips come at a delicate moment in U.S.-Chinese relations.

Earlier this year, the United States took legal action against China by imposing sanctions on high-gloss paper and filing complaints about steel subsidies and pirated DVDs; China said these issues should be resolved through dialogue.

Then came recalls of imported Chinese pet food, toothpaste and toys. Although China admitted that a handful of its companies may have been at fault, it said the problems were exaggerated.

In June, the United States imposed a partial ban on farmed shrimp, catfish and other seafood. China emphasized that it wasn't the only country with food-safety issues, blocking ostensibly contaminated meat imports from some of the largest U.S. food producers as well as some vitamin supplements.