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UPDATED: October 24, 2011 Web Exclusive
Dealing With China Carefully: Expert
By CHEN WEN
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Kin Moy, deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, speaks at the eighth China Institute Executive Summit in New York on October 21 (CHEN WEN)

Some U.S. lawmakers have identified China as a reason for the faltering economic situation and dismal employment picture in the United States in this early stage of the U.S. presidential campaign, while the Obama Administration weighed in on the issue in a more cautious way.

Kin Moy, deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said recently that the U.S. government needs to manage relations with China carefully at a time when the political environment is under change.

There will be a presidential election in the United States in November 2012. The Communist Party of China will convene its 18th national congress in the second half of 2012.

"There is recognition in the U.S. government that we will have to manage the sensitivity here," said Moy at a business forum held on October 21 by the China Institute, a New York-based cultural and educational nonprofit institution focused exclusively on China.

"We don't want China-U.S. relations to be an issue in the upcoming election," Moy said. "We would want the atmosphere turning positive," he added.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney earlier said bluntly that if elected, he would label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office and take punitive measures targeting China's trade with the United States.

The U.S. Senate passed a controversial bill two weeks ago to force China to appreciate its currency to save American jobs, a move that some analyst said might highlight the role China could play in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Moy said that there is not much the government can do to tell the presidential candidates about what should or shouldn't be talked about, but it will continue to clarify what the U.S. views and policies are and to make sure that there is no misunderstanding.

Moy emphasized the U.S. engagement with China to build a "positive, cooperative and comprehensive" relationship, a statement that President Obama made earlier this year when meeting with visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao.

"Our overall policy remains the same. We welcome China's rise," Moy said.

Moy also pointed out an area that has witnessed quite an advancement over the past three years in people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.

President Obama announced the "100,000 Strong Initiative" in November 2009, aiming to bring 100,000 American students to China to learn to bridge the gaps of knowledge about China.

The number of Chinese traveling to the United States increased dramatically in the last five years. According to Moy, the U.S. has over 1 million visa applications from China. He anticipates that number to be 1.3 million next year.

Moy said that the U.S. is about to extend 50 more Chinese-speaking visa officers to China. "It used to take people 60 to 90 days to get the visa. Now, I put it down to less than 30 days," he said, noting that "we're heading in a positive direction."

(Reporting from New York)



 
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