Tag: endgame

Andrew Brown Wall Street Journal January 16, 2011 Hu Highlights Need for US-China Cooperation, Questions Dollar BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized the need for cooperation with the US in areas from new energy to space ahead of his visit to Washington this week, but he called the present US dollar-dominated currency system a “product of the past” and highlighted moves to turn the yuan into a global currency. “We both stand to gain from a sound China-US relationship, and lose from confrontation,” Mr. Hu said in written answers to questions from The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. Mr. Hu acknowledged “some differences and sensitive issues between us,” but his tone was generally compromising, and he avoided specific mention of some of the controversial issues that have dogged relations with the US over the past year or so—including US arms sales to Taiwan that led to a freeze in military relations between the world’s sole superpower and its rising Asian rival. AFP January 16, 2011 Hu calls currency system ‘product of the past’ China’s President Hu Jintao said Sunday the international currency system was “a product of the past,” but it would be a long time before the yuan is accepted as an international currency. Hu’s comments, which came ahead of a state visit to Washington on Wednesday, reflected the continuing tensions over the dollar’s role as the major reserve currency in the aftermath of the US financial crisis in 2008. “The current international …