China summit: Was it a bust?

last updated 8 January 2015

What a disappointment, said Michael Auslin in The Wall Street Journal. President Obama may have characterized his first-ever summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping as “terrific,” but despite the happy talk and broad smiles that both leaders manufactured for the cameras, nothing of real substance was achieved. Obama complained to Xi about China’s state-sanctioned hacking of American business and government computers, but made no demands for action—even though China is “robbing America blind,” stealing as much as $250 billion a year in intellectual property. Similarly, Obama let Xi spout the usual blather about “the pressing need” for North Korea to return to negotiation over its nuclear weapons, with no commitments to hold Kim Jong Un responsible for his belligerence. Obama was “much too polite,” said Gordon Chang in TheDailyBeast.com. As long as Washington and Beijing agree to “discuss” issues such as cyberwar and North Korea, China will continue to ruthlessly pursue its self-interest.

But what leverage does the U.S. have? said Fareed Zakaria in The Washington Post. China is a very curious global power, whose “narrow-minded” ambitions are limited to growing its economy and maintaining political stability at home. It views other nations purely as trading partners and markets. For that reason, Chinese leaders aren’t going to give up their nation’s cyberwar “until they see there is some cost to their stealing,” said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. To maintain its rapid economic growth, and keep its 1.3 billion citizens from revolting, “China needs technology that its domestic firms don’t produce—and that means pillaging foreign intellectual property.” The only way to stop this digital looting is for the U.S. to go on the offensive, and show the Chinese “that their own military and business assets are vulnerable to cyberattack.”

Perhaps so, said Elizabeth C. Economy in CFR.org, but the summit was not a time for angry confrontation. Xi came to the U.S. with one main agenda—“to be treated with respect,” as the leader of a nation equal to the U.S. He got “half his wish,” with Obama firmly resisting Xi’s efforts to elevate China to “major country” status. Obama’s subtle message: If China wants to be treated as a partner and true global power, it has to start acting more responsibly—and less like a lone wolf. That message alone made the summit “good enough.”