Economy, not rights, rules the new China-US world

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — As a dangerous confrontation flared between China and Taiwan in 1996, Bill Clinton deployed the Seventh Fleet to deter the two rivals from going to war. Five years later, when a U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter, George W. Bush faced a prolonged international crisis. Meanwhile, human rights and democracy in China were a perennial hot-button issue.

Now it's Barack Obama's turn to deal with the China challenge, and this time, it's all about the money. As the global financial system teeters, China, with its $1.9 trillion in foreign reserves and slowing but still strong economy, offers a potential lifeline.

The crisis that Obama is inheriting has pushed aside the old points of contention and underscored how profoundly the power equation between Washington and Beijing has changed.

China now owns over half-a-trillion dollars in U.S. government bonds, more than any other country, and Washington needs Beijing to continue buying them to help finance the national debt and the $700 billion financial industry bailout.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j2ZxyVtR_dPyd75yfIAMpV4QNXOgD94L2P2G0

[amdezurik]

1. which means the Bush/bin Laden ticket

is still "winning"...