“I want to welcome Vice President Xi [Jinping] to the Oval Office and welcome him to the United States,” U.S. President Barack Obama said on February 14th in Washington DC. “This is . . . a great opportunity for us to build on the U.S.-China relationship.”
White House Officials, in previewing Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to the press, put it in the larger context of the United States’ strategic pivot to the Asia Pacific region. Increasing the United States’ presence in the fastest growing market in the world is critical to achieving the goal of improving the economy. The United States, in reaffirming its security commitments, ensures that it can be a source for stability in the Asia Pacific region in the 21st Century, as it had been in the last Century.
“We are very interested and very focused on continuing to strengthen our relationships,” President Obama said. “Over the last three years I’ve had a great opportunity to develop a strong working relationship with President Hu [Jintao]. And we have continually tried to move forward on the basis of recognizing that a cooperative relationship based on mutual interest and mutual respect is not only in the interests of the United States and China, but is also in the interest of the region and . . . the world.”
On the basis of this understanding, the United States and China have established extensive dialogues in improving economic and strategic relationships, and in managing areas of tension in ways that are constructive.
“We believe that a strong and prosperous China is one that can help to bring stability and prosperity to the region and to the world,” President Obama said in conclusion. “We want to work with China to make sure that everybody is working by the same rules . . . when it comes to the world economic system . . . It also means that on critical issues like human rights, we will continue to emphasize what we believe is the importance of recognizing the aspirations and rights of all people.
"We believe that it is critically important that the United States and China develop a strong working relationship to help to bring stability, order, and security that ultimately provides a better life for both the people of the United States and the people of China.”
