While the Chinese president’s trip concluded with a joint statement and the signing of trade and investment deals, it achieved little in terms of addressing pressing global problems and bilateral issues.
Primarily because of the uncertainties surrounding US-China relations, the Hu-Obama summit ended in a stalemate with both leaders agreeing to disagree on important matters.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited Beijing on October 16 – 21 to discuss cooperation in manned space flight. While one swallow does not make a summer, it may signal that the US may be considering greater engagement with China in outer space, particularly manned flight.
Sino-US rivalry has been simmering for the past many years, as China has replaced Russia in the American scheme of things as its most potent adversary.
Even though the report is fairly cautious in what it says and does not highlight anything new, the reactions on the Chinese side have not been that positive.
India has to calibrate its relationship with China, the US, and countries of East Asia with great circumspection in the wake of the resurfacing of tensions in the South China Sea.
The UNSC statement is more a testimony to Sino-US compromise arrived at after nearly a month and half of negotiations rather than being a “diplomatic victory” as has been hailed by North Korea.
Indian strategists may well find that many of the tactical quandaries faced today by the US carrier fleets cruising through the Asia Pacific are destined to become those of the Indian Navy in the not-too-distant future. Devising an AirSea Battle concept would enable it to parry blows and reassert sea control.
How to look at President Hu Jintao’s US Visit: Détente or Stalemate?
Primarily because of the uncertainties surrounding US-China relations, the Hu-Obama summit ended in a stalemate with both leaders agreeing to disagree on important matters.