Thank you, Vice Premier Wu Yi and your distinguished colleagues for a very productive two days. My colleagues and I have been impressed by, and grateful for, the openness and positive spirit you brought to this meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue. ["Why the heck did they even bother coming here if they weren't going to seriously discuss yuan revaluation? Time could have been better spent watching reruns of My Mother the Car."]Over the last five months, China and the United States have come together to discuss our shared economic interests with mutual respect. We agree on many issues. We agree that it is vital to the prosperity of both our nations, that China rebalance its economic growth, encourage consumption and spread development more broadly among its people. We agree that by combining the power of our economies, we can spur further development of clean energy technology. We agree that strengthening and deepening our two-way trading relationship will create jobs and give our citizens a wider variety of choices and lower prices on goods. [Actually, over the last five months, the US has hauled China before the WTO over subsidies as well as intellectual property enforcement and market access. Aside from those three small matters, the US also slapped tariffs on Chinese coated paper exports for good measure. So much for agreeing on the issues.]
While we have much more work to do, we have tangible results for our efforts thus far. These results are like signposts on the long- term strategic road, building confidence and encouraging us to continue moving forward together. [Nevermind that Vice-Premier Wu Yi was so annoyed by US trade measures against China that she almost didn't bother to come, but...]
The United States and China understand that getting our economic relationship right is vital not only to our people, but to the world economy. Vice Premier Wu and I see an important part of our job is to communicate frequently, iron out differences, and keep the economic relationship on an even keel, even during times of tension. Our relationship works best when it produces mutual benefits, which lead to growth, balance and a stronger global economy. [So you say, Paulson. I think that Congress and the China Currency Coalition have different ideas.]
We agreed today on a wide variety of next steps, including significant items in financial services, energy and the environment, and civil aviation. The dialogue will continue; our cooperative spirit will continue as well. At our next meeting, we will focus on capturing the benefits and managing the challenges of global economic integration. [Say, whatever happened to the yuan? It's just a peripheral matter next to opening up Chinese financial markets for Paulson's Wall $treet chums, right?]
We have built strong relationships since our inaugural meeting in Beijing. Those relationships will continue to grow stronger and produce on-going returns. On behalf of the American delegation, thank you for coming and we look forward to returning to China later this year. [Speak for yourself and the Bush administration which got big contributions from Wall $treet in 2004, Paulson. The famed bipartisan, veto-proof, WTO-legal bill on Chinese yuan undervaluation will be tabled soon. Whether it's Ryan-Hunter or Grassley-Baucus-Schumer-Graham, it won't be long in coming.]
Vice-Premier Wu Yi meets with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi later today in a closed session of Congress as well as with "Capital G" Bush on Thursday. I am inclined to think Pelosi won't be sugarcoating matters that much. After all, she is on board the China Currency Coalition and voted against China's accession to the WTO. Good fight, good night.
