Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 08/2010

The Pivotal Relationship: How Obama Should Engage China

Liu Xuecheng, Robert Oxnam

February 2009

EastWest Institute

Abstract

As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left for her first trip to Asia as Secretary of State, EWI released the report of two prominent experts—China’s Xuecheng Liu and America’s Robert Oxnam—on the Obama administration and China. The stakes are high, the authors argue, because the United States cannot move forward on its most pressing economic and foreign policy concerns unless it builds more intense engagement with China. In releasing the paper, EWI's Deputy Director of Policy Innovation Jacqueline McLaren Miller cautioned that the authors are asking for a change of mind-set from many on both sides of the Pacific. "Oxnam and Liu recognize that important differences still divide the two countries," Miller said. "But they are hoping that the United States and China will approach each other with a focus on overarching strategic concerns, such as the global economic crisis.”