The extraordinary care taken with the ceremonial and protocol aspects of President Jiang Zemin's visit to the United States tells its own story of how much his hosts value their relations with China. President Clinton went out of his way yesterday to emphasise how the interests and values of both states can best be advanced by working together and not apart. It is a tricky assignment, given the burgeoning protest movements generated in the US by the growing relationship. Those movements brings together trade union, human rights, religious and anti-communist groups and deal with most of its agenda items, including Taiwan, Chinese membership of the World Trade Organisation, the Tiananmen Square massacres and the toleration of political dissent.
The outcome of the formal summit meeting in Washington demonstrates that the two leaders have much room for disagreement as well as consensus across the span of a vast agenda. This is the logic of the engagement and containment policy adopted by successive US administrations towards China since it was recognised by Richard Nixon in the 1970s. Having survived the great strain of the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, the relationship has been boosted dramatically by China's growth and development since then.
Mr Zemin's visit recalls that of Deng Xiaoping to the US in 1979, when he bore the news that its economy was going to open up. Following Deng's death earlier this year and the consolidation of Mr Zemin's leadership group, the Chinese president is seeking to put the relationship on a new footing to reflect its greatly increased scope and importance. On the evidence of yesterday's summit he has made substantial progress. President Clinton is to visit China next year, the reciprocal deal on Chinese arms for Iran and US nuclear facilities for China demonstrates an ability to conduct trade-offs, while the agreement to differ on human rights issues leaves many questions open for further discussion.
Mr Clinton's agenda is driven predominantly by the business interests which have been so much in the foreground of international investment in China over the last six years. They are finding the going harder than anticipated but realise they are there for a long haul, in the expectation that China will emerge as the second largest economy in the world over the next two generations. The country faces many environmental challenges, especially in the energy sector. It may be questioned whether peaceful nuclear energy is the best response to them. Would not a determined effort to provide cleaner coal-burning technology make a greater contribution?
President Zemin will encounter much of the vibrancy of American attitudes during his visit. As he said, quoting Confucius, "seeing it once is worth hearing about it a hundred times". But he will also have to come more fully to terms with the facts that human rights are universal and democratic disagreement can be a source of strength, as President Clinton pointed out to him yesterday.