By John Podesta | September 11, 2009
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Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify before you this afternoon. I am very pleased to have this time to share my thoughts on U.S.-China relations and the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, along with some specific ideas for increasing cooperation between the United States and China.
This opportunity comes at a timely moment. I returned from China last Thursday, where I led a small American delegation that included Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD), Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Professor John Deutch, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Rudy deLeon, and SEIU President Andy Stern to Beijing. Our group spent three full days speaking with some of the senior-most government officials, leading academics, and members of the financial industry about a range of issues of utmost importance between our two countries.
On the whole, our conversations convinced me that relations between China and the U.S. are on solid footing. Although many areas of difference remain—lead among them those that touch on China’s sense of territorial integrity—the Chinese seem eager to keep bilateral relations on an upward trajectory. They demonstrated a willingness to increase cooperation with the United States on a range of pressing global problems, spanning national security, economic, and environmental challenges.
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