World Crisis Online

Hu Jintao, China president, walks alongside US vice-president Joe Biden upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in MarylandPresident Barack Obama formally welcomed Hu Jintao, China’s president, to Washington in a full state ceremony on the White House lawn on Wednesday, setting the scene for a series of top-level meetings the US hopes will stabilise the rocky bilateral relationship.

Mr Obama emphasised in a brief speech that the two nations had much to gain from co-operation, saying the two nations “have an enormous stake in each other’s success”.

“Even as our nations compete in some areas, we can co-operate in others,” he said.

Mr Obama indirectly raised the issue of human rights, saying: “History shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are successful and the world is more just when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all people are upheld, including the universal rights of every human being.”

Mr Hu spoke in kind, also stressing the benefits of the two nations working together, despite their differences.

But just as Mr Obama had referred to human rights, Mr Hu pointedly laid down a marker for good relations with China, saying that ties should be based on “mutual respect”.

“We live in an increasingly diverse and colourful world. China and the United States should respect each other’s choice of development path and each other’s core interests,” he said.

In the meetings that followed – billed as the most important summit in years – the leaders were seeking to reset a relationship marred by a series of diplomatic and economic disputes.

The opening of the four-day state visit by Mr Hu was clouded on Tuesday by Taiwan’s conduct of rare missile tests, a reminder of Beijing’s perennial pressure on Washington to curtail arms sales to Taipei.

The visit will mix lavish protocol for Mr Hu with what is likely to be a much tougher tone in private from an Obama administration that has steeled itself to take a more assertive line with Beijing.

Although hundreds of millions of dollars of business deals are expected to be signed during the visit, the focus will be on re-engaging with China on issues such as North Korea’s nuclear programme and the global economy.

Although China’s currency remains an issue, the administration is keen to shift the focus of the dialogue to other matters, including the openness of the Chinese market and intellectual property rights.

Beijing has made clear that it will press its complaints about lax US monetary policy, which it believes fuels inflation in China, and regulatory failures in the run-up to the global banking crisis.

Mr Hu’s visit kicked off on Tuesday night with a private dinner at the White House with Mr Obama and two ministerial-level officials from each side. US officials say Mr Obama was frustrated on his 2009 trip to Beijing by the heavily scripted meetings with Mr Hu. The dinner was intended as a chance for the pair to establish a more personal connection.

Later on Wednesday, Mr Hu will be the guest at a state dinner at the White House. He will also give a speech to business leaders in Washington on Thursday and visit Chicago on Friday, where the focus will be on commerce.

General Electric, the largest US industrial group, is signing a series of deals with China this week in energy, rail and aviation that could be worth more than $4bn and “support and create” about 4,700 jobs in the US.

Two of the deals – in avionics and coal gasification – involve creating joint ventures to which GE is bringing its more advanced technology: moves that could reinforce concerns about China’s capture of western knowledge.

Beijing is eager for a visit free of protocol glitches or any other diplomatic embarrassments.

Taiwan’s tests of 19 surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles from a military base in the south-east of the island were observed by Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s president, who said later he was “not very happy” with their accuracy. He said the tests “had nothing to do with” Mr Hu’s US visit.

The exercises represented the first substantial missile tests by Taiwan since cross-strait relations began dramatically improving more than two years ago. “It is a political signal that we still exist and we are still a factor,” said George Tsai, an expert on cross-strait relations.