When President Obama came to China a year ago, on his first official Asian trip, he spoke of the "deep and even dramatic ties" between the two powers that would work as partners on shared global burdens such as climate change, nonproliferation and the world economy.
On his return to Asia - a trip that pointedly bypasses China - the talk of partnership and shared burdens has been largely replaced by a deep mutual mistrust, with widespread disappointment on both sides.
In the intervening 12 months, Chinese leaders became infuriated when Obama met with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom China has branded a separatist criminal, and when Washington announced plans to sell sophisticated weapons to Taiwan.
U.S. officials tried in vain to get China's leaders in May to condemn its ally North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship, and then became alarmed at Beijing's bellicose response to a September incident involving a Chinese fishing boat and a Japanese patrol ship around a group of disputed, uninhabited islands.
In between there have been disputes over trade - involving tires, car parts and chicken- and questions of whether China is manipulating its currency.
Strangely enough, our problems with China didn't actually stem from China having to deal with that cowboy George Bush. Who knew?
Fortunately, when punishing friends and rewarding enemies doesn't work, one can always try the reverse. It works for foreign policy as well as domestic affairs:
After spending the early part of his administration kowtowing to China and neglecting India (the two weren't unrelated), Obama delivered on the first leg of his Asia trip. He forged closer ties to the robustly democratic nation of 1 billion people, partly as a hedge against the rise of a China resistant to his blandishments.
China has its own interests and none of them include just doing what we want them to do because we bow nicely. So good for President Obama in recognizing India as a friend in need and a friend who can help us.
For example, United States and Indian cooperation to deny China exlusive use of the South China Sea would help both of us--especially India in light of this Chinese deployment of nuclear subs.
Remember, whatever problems China has with our meetings with the Dalai Lama or arms sales to Taiwan, they don't compare with China's efforts to run interference for North Korea's policy of arming our enemies with nuclear technology that will eventually lead to atomic weapons:
After months in limbo due to Chinese objections, a U.N. report suggesting North Korea may have supplied Syria, Iran and Myanmar with banned nuclear technology is heading to the Security Council.
You know, as long as we are on that quaint path of rewarding friends and punishing enemies. It's a notion so crazy it might just work!
