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Better Sino-US cooperation expected in 2010

Updated: 2010-01-04 13:17

Taiwan and Tibet are issues both countries have to work around

China-US relations will keep a good momentum in the new year with more cooperation and closer ties over major global issues, Chinese experts said. This is despite media reports that the White House appears close to launching arms sales to Taiwan and setting a date for President Barack Obama to meet the Dalai Lama in early months of this year.

Many analysts agree that the relations between China and the United States have developed well since Obama took office last year, thanks to the frequent high-level official exchanges, the establishment of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the building of a positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-US relationship for the 21st century.

"The arms sale to Taiwan and the Tibet issue are the two things that every US administration has to deal with, and the Obama administration is no exception," Zhou Qi, an expert on US politics with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily yesterday.

"The Chinese government will maintain its same stand on those issues, strongly opposing the US actions, but I believe the trend for bilateral ties this year is heading for a better direction."

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu expressed China's firm opposition to any US sale of arms to Taiwan last month.

In the latest China-US Joint Statement, the two sides reiterated their commitment to building a "positive, cooperative and comprehensive" relationship, and will take concrete actions to steadily build a partnership to address common challenges.

Some Chinese experts have more cautious attitudes, saying that China-US relations may face other challenges this year, such as the fear of a "China threat" by some in the United States, uncertainties in US foreign policies, increasing conflicts over global issues between the two countries and US's growing financial protectionism.

"As the US economy is stabilizing, the Obama administration will not need China as much as before to get through the difficulties," Zhang Jiye, a scholar at the Institute of American Studies of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said in his article at the Chinese-language Global Times recently. But he said the US may increase protectionism against Chinese goods in order to ensure its leading position in the post-crisis era.

去聽寫專區一展身手

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

Better Sino-US cooperation expected in 2010

About the broadcaster:

Better Sino-US cooperation expected in 2010

Linda Kennedy is a presenter and writer. She has reported and commented extensively on BBC TV, and was a correspondent for "News at Ten" on ITV. She also wrote a column for The Scotsman newspaper.