The Tripping President

"'On a superficial level, the Bush administration leaves the US on better terms in Asia than in other regions,' says Kenneth Lieberthal, a China specialist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. 'But at a deeper level, there's been a hollowing out of our capabilities and a deteriorating of our strengths that will require full attention at home. That inward focus, he adds, 'will reduce our attraction in such a dynamic region as Asia.'"

Michael Forsythe and Dune Lawrence write for Bloomberg: "When Barack Obama or John McCain takes over the presidency in January, he will inherit a stable U.S.-China relationship. Part of the credit will belong to someone who gets few kudos for his foreign-policy initiatives: George W. Bush.

"The president, who travels to China for the fourth and last time of his presidency this week to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing, 'leaves a relationship that is basically in good shape,' says Kenneth Lieberthal, who was director for Asia on the White House National Security Council during Bill Clinton's presidency.

"Since taking office 7 1/2 years ago, Bush has personally eased tensions over Taiwan. Henry Paulson, his Treasury secretary, stopped Congress from escalating trade disputes; Robert Zoellick, his former No. 2 diplomat, invited China to play a bigger role internationally. Meanwhile, the administration enlisted China's support to fight terrorism and persuade North Korea to begin dismantling its nuclear program.

"China's leaders 'will miss him after he steps down,' says Shen Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

"Bush will bequeath his successor a base to work from in dealing with a country that owns more than $500 billion in Treasuries, is the top source of U.S. imports and is on track to become the world's second-biggest economy in a decade."

But, to some extent, Bush's China policy is an accident of history. As Forsyth and Lawrence note: "When he took office in 2001, Bush signaled he was ready to take a hard line, labeling China a 'strategic competitor' in contrast to the Clinton presidency's description of a 'strategic partnership.' . . .

"The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks forced Bush to engage China more closely."

And don't forget the aforementioned $500+ billion in Treasury bills -- more than enough for China to wield considerable power over our economy.

John D. McKinnon writes in the Wall Street Journal that the trip "will help mark China's emergence on the world stage but will also seek to reassure longtime allies in the region that the U.S. still stands with them. To some of China's nervous neighbors, though, the U.S.'s actions -- or lack thereof -- don't always match its words. . . .

"Countries like Japan, South Korea and Thailand fear that the live-and-let-live U.S. attitude toward Asia is encouraging China to assert its military might in addition to its economic power. They point, for example, to China's increasingly far-ranging navy, which is pushing farther into the Pacific. . . .

"In a bid to reassure such fears, and underscore U.S. interests in Asia broadly, Mr. Bush gives a major speech in Bangkok on Thursday." In the speech "the president likely will seek to reassure the region that countries can develop their relations with China while hedging against China's rise as a military power through U.S.-backed security alliances."