Obama, Hu Begin Bridging Divide

US needs China's help as never before

(NEWSER) - President Obama's starkly different tone in his visit to China—more congratulatory than confrontational—is less a shift in policy from his predecessors than a change in the two country's roles, write Andrew Higgins and Anne Kornblut in the Washington Post . When President Clinton visited in 1998, the US was the world's only superpower and American owed more money to Spain than to China. More»

Copenhagen summit yields basic deal to fight climate change

(NEWSER) - President Obama and the leaders of China, India, and South Africa reached a "meaningful agreement" tonight in Copenhagen on steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the White House announced. The deal requires the nations of the world to list their actions to curb emissions and sets up a framework for rich countries to pay poor nations in order to cope with the effects of climate change. The agreement is meant to limit global warming to 2° Celsius. More»

In fact, it just illustrates the 'yawning' economic differences

(NEWSER) - President Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao paid lip service today to the idea of stronger US-China relations, but Obama's visit has done nothing but highlight the "yawning differences" between the two nations on economic issues, writes Dexter Roberts. "Lofty statements of common interests aside, the all-important Sino-US economic relationship is certain to be defined by friction as much as cooperation for a long time to come," he writes in BusinessWeek . More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama and Hu Jintao of China met today at the G20 summit in London and agreed to close cooperation on issues ranging from the economic crisis to global security, Time reports. Obama will travel to China later this year. Meanwhile, high-level representatives will meet in Washington during the summer to launch a "strategic and economic dialogue.” More»

Tougher measures were included under NDAA

(NEWSER) - President Obama issued an executive order today imposing tough new sanctions on Iran's Central Bank. The order freezes "all property and interests in property of the Government of Iran," and of "any Iranian financial institution." The sanctions were included in the controversial defense bill Obama signed a little over a month ago, but Obama is instituting them well ahead of the six-month deadline the bill imposed, the AP reports. More»