Saturday, May 26, 2007

SIGNS OF US-CHINA HARMONY DIPLOMACY

(I) SIGN OF US-CHINA HARMONY DIPLOMACY FROM STRATEGIC ECONOMIC DIALOGUE

A major news event of significance signaling US-China harmony diplomacy was under reported by US media. On this Wednesday May 23, 2007, China and United States ended a key economic dialogue in Washington in a spirit of agreement. The meeting was co chaired by Secretary of Treasury, Henry Paulson and China’s Vice Premier Wu Yi. During the two day Second Strategic Economic Dialogue, top economic officials from the two countries, including dozens of cabinet ministers discussed topics covering areas of service, investment and transparency, energy and environment as well as growth balance and innovation.

As witnessed by the joint fact sheet issued at the closing, both sides reached consensus on how to move forward in financial services, civil aviation, energy and environment and signed a number of specific agreements. One cannot help notice the tone of the joint fact sheet shows great diplomacy at work. It shows both sides showed good intention and yielding ground to reach consensus. This consensus is surprising because of perennial trade friction between the two nations. Particularly under the climate of China bashing, resulted from recent Congressional trade protectionism mentality. One may also wonder perhaps we are seeing the beginning signal of US-China harmony diplomacy from the Bush administration.

What tips off this change of heart is straight from the President’s own words. For once Bush did the right diplomatic thing for US-China relations as well as for world harmony. At a White House press conference on Thursday, Bush said the just concluded US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue is “important” and there has been some progress achieved at the dialogue. Bush’s exact words were “This is an important dialogue. And it’s one that I thank the Chinese government for engaging in”. Bush also met with Vice Premier Wu Yi in the White House Oval Office on Thursday, and asked her to pass a message to Chinese President Hu Jintao that he appreciates China’s willingness “to work with strategic dialogues in order to put in place the type of measures that reflect a complex relationship.”

To set the proper tone for the consultation and consensus the principle negotiators from both sides were careful in their statements. “Thanks for the careful attention and joint efforts from both sides, the second meeting of the strategic dialogue achieved great success,” said Wu, acting as the special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao. “The economic and trade relationship between China and the US is one of the most complicated in today’s world,” she said. “The SED provides an excellent platform for both sides to further understanding and trust in terms of strategic issues.” For his part, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that US and China both understood that”getting the economic relationship right is vital not only to our people, but to the world economy.”

In their opening statements Henry Paulson also said very appropriately”The purpose of this on going dialogue is to have candid discussions and find ways to ease, rather than increase tensions.” Vice Premier Wu added “Equal consultation, cooperation and win-win have become the overall situation and defining nature of China-US relations, both being stakeholders and constructive partners.” “Politicizing economic and trade issues is absolutely unacceptable, since it is of no help but will make the situation more complicated, harm bilateral economic and trade relations or even cause serious negative impact on the progress of overall China-US ties”

“Now and then, the peace of the world and the progress of the world required close cooperation between the two peoples of the US and China” said Henry Kissinger at the opening, referring to the historic visit by the former President Richard Nixon to China in 1972. “The most advanced industrialized country and the country that is growing at the fastest rate have the unique opportunity to set an example for the rest of the world of cooperation and vision.” That vision may very well be world harmony renaissance through US-China harmony consensus.

The consensus reached through the SED consultation clearly demonstrated the merit of practicing harmony diplomacy. Harmony is fostered by acceptance, respect, equity and humility. This type of no fault, win-win consultation can lead to complementary solutions between any two nations. The following attached SED fact sheet may serve as a model of harmony diplomacy with humility, practiced by two great nations with wisdom. For related articles on harmony diplomacy and world harmony renaissance please visit www.worldharmonyforum.blogspot.com World harmony renaissance begins with US-China harmony consensus.

(II) SIGN OF HARMONY DIPLOMACY, SIX PARTY NORTH KOREA DENUCLEARIZATION
I also thought of having World Harmony Watch column among many columns in your publication. The idea is to report on major countries activities to promote world harmony. Details of the Six nations denuclearizing pact coming out on April 11, 2007 are very encouraging. It clearly shows that the two strong contending sides are giving ground and reached some consensus through long painful discussions and consultations. This is how harmony works through discussions, consultations and consensus. Until the announcement yesterday the accord all seemed but impossible. Not so long ago our President Bush called North Korea part of the "Axis of Evil".This major world event may not receive the attention it deserves. But from World Harmony Renaissance perspective this may spark a series of events that signal the beginning of harmony at East Asia. By implementing the Nuclear Disarmament Pact U.S., China, Russia, Japan, South and North will have to help North Korea recover. That means major countries across both sides of the pacific will work together for mutual development. North East Asia development has a lot of potential.North Korea's economic stagnation dated from Korean War some 50 years ago may see a way out. The Accord calls for "Within 30 days: Five separate working groups meet on denuclearizing, normalizing U.S.-North Korea relations, normalizing of North Korea-Japan relations, economy and energy cooperation, and peace and security in Northeast Asia."This would have been real juicy material for our World Harmony Watch Column to break the news, should we have our own World Harmony Renaissance magazine. I would have reported with a lot more enthusiasm than the U.S. press for sure. Be what it may, this proved the importance of World Harmony Watch column to give the fair historical perspective and the whole aftermath of the cold war era. Some of you may still remember the cold war confrontation era. As momentous as those years were the left over effect may be solved by the necessity of mutual and harmonious development.Need for mutual development will pave the way for a more harmonious world. Solution for uniting North and South Korea, Between China and Taiwan will be the promise of mutual development. Unification of West and East Germany and the return of Hong Kong to China both situations showed that the aftermath of cold war era can easily be forgotten and harmony of feuding brothers can be achieved. www.worldharmonyorg.net

No comments: