34 / 126
Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2010
32
From the
americas
But this should not obscure the truly substantive
improvements signalised by the Chinese action – not only
in US-China trade relations, and not only for Americans
and Chinese.
‘Potent partner’
“[President Obama] gets little credit for economic success
at home, where the unemployment rate remains shockingly
high. But if you listen carefully in Toronto, you will hear a few
sighs of relief, including among some important Chinese
leaders.” Thus did columnist David Ignatius wind up an
op-ed piece in the
Washington Post
, after deftly recapping
some narrowly avoided recent perils. A scant year before
Toronto, he recalled, China was wondering whether it had
made the wrong bet in relying on the US to manage the
global economic system. The financial meltdown of 2008
was so disastrous that the Chinese feared the US-built
financial architecture was “quite literally, out of control.”
Now, Mr Ignatius wrote, “The United States is once again
in the driver’s seat on global economic policy, with China
emerging as a potent partner.” (“For the G-20, Order
Is Restored with America’s Leadership,” 25
th
June). He
observed that restoring confidence in the soundness of the
global economy – especially in Beijing – had been among
the Obama administration’s most important tests over the
past year, “beyond containing oil spills or even fighting the
Taliban.” To a greater degree than sceptics thought possible,
the US rescue operation has been successful.
“It worked,” President Obama asserted in the opening
paragraph of his 16
th
June letter to fellow G-20 summiteers.
Indeed it did, as witness China’s decision on the eve of the
summit to allow more flexibility for its currency. Such a move
was unthinkable while policymakers in Beijing were still
uncertain about the stability of global markets. “China had
been reluctant to take this step because it wasn’t sure how
long the financial fires would burn,” wrote Mr Ignatius in the
Washington Post
. That China
has
taken this step means that
people the world over may breathe a little easier; or, at least,
they can stop holding their breath.
Trade
The White House re-commits to a holdover
from the Bush administration:
the free-trade pact with South Korea
On 26
th
June, in Toronto, President Lee Myung-bak of South
Korea said, “We very much welcome and thank President
Obama for proposing a date for us to look forward to, and
we will work towards that date and objectives.”
The occasion was the two-day summit meeting of the Group
of 20 economies, following a smaller meeting by the Group
of 8 powers.