By Rikki N. Massand and Gazelle Emami (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-20 10:40

Philadelphia, Pa. – Five days before the critical Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, the upcoming Presidential election and its impact on Sino-U.S. relations were addressed at the U. Penn Law School and simultaneously in 35 different venues across America and the globe via live webcast, from smaller college campuses to New York City, Honolulu, and Seattle as well as Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei in Asia. Following the web presentation distinguished speakers at each venue continued discussing the lecture topic – entitled “China Town Hall” -- and took questions from the audiences.

The webcast, the first part of the program, featured an hour of remarks and subsequent questions and answers from several venues by Norman J. Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, who spoke from Washington, D.C. Ornstein focused his opinions on what this year’s U.S. Presidential candidates are saying about China, including their suggestions that President Bush should boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Ornstein, while overall pessimistic about what the future holds for the two nations, said that a boycott would be foolish and counterproductive for the U.S., which is already seeing economic trouble.

Ornstein called the 2008 Presidential race between Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama the most consequential election in nearly a century, noting that it is unusual as well.

“We will have a path-breaking winner no matter what,” he said.

He elaborated on what that means for America and its dealings with China, explaining the state that he perceives the American public to be in.

“Americans are bitter; 81% say the country is headed on the wrong track. What role America will play in the world and how that relates to our allies, adversaries and those who fall somewhere in between will be determined,” Ornstein said.

Speakers in several venues remarked that the mainstream U.S. media has provided some bias in its China coverage, which has contributed to negative public opinions. In New York one of the speakers elaborated on Ornstein’s perception.

“It takes time for the U.S. to adapt to China’s unprecedented growth, and China becomes the emblem of America’s anxiety about its political and economic future,” said Dr. Barry Naughton, Professor of Chinese and International Affairs at the University of California at San Diego.

As far as outlining China’s relationship to the U.S., the discussion centered upon the fact that each of the three leading candidates have held back from making anti-China or anti-trade comments, as Norman Ornstein put it, “once you become President you look at national interest in differently.” While the Democrats have expressed some hostility, Ornstein says that Republican John McCain will play to anti-Communist sentiment of the right-wing while showing he is for human rights. Ornstein believes that the Democrats must show that they could (but may not) pressure China on some causes too, referencing the recent speeches Sen. Hillary Clinton has given throughout her campaign here in Pennsylvania where she has lectured on “being tough” with China and re-negotiating NAFTA and opposing agreements like the Columbia free trade agreement.

But Ornstein made one current obstacle clear: not having the U.S.’s future President in place and having candidates banter on about China will not make Pres. Bush’s efforts any easier now or as he tries to go forward and attend the Opening ceremonies in Beijing this summer.

In New York Naughton reiterated Ornstein’s point on outreach shaping China’s global image, saying that against much of the negative hyperbole about China’s inroads into Africa, its impact on Africa has been overall positive.

“By providing aid, building local infrastructure, and spurring growth, China is pursuing enlightened self-interest in Africa,” Naughton said.

In comparing the anti-China sentiments in America today to the anti-Japan sentiments of the 1980’s, Ornstein said China replaced Japan as the world’s engine of growth with the differences being military power, which Japan’s own constitution prevented from happening, and in population size, where as Japan’s never grew to an influential number while China is much bigger and more significant. Finally Ornstein cautioned about conflicting dynamics between China’s haves and have-nots, environmental and transportation problems and a global slowdown all impacting China’s future.

In the Philadelphia session speaker Adam Siegal, Senior Fellow for China Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, lectured on the many positives he sees in Sino-U.S. relations, which he said is aided by the mirror policies that each nation adopted on the other. Siegal suggested that the incoming Presidential administration would have to re-balance the relationship in four ways, assuming that a new President and Secretary of State would travel to China more often that Pres. Bush has.

To frame the importance of this discussion and the topics that must be met, Siegal used the analogy of “the U.S. and China having their hands around each other’s necks and we’re both going over the waterfall.” After that comment a man in the audience then suggested that in that case both countries would have to look to the other for help and teamwork would be the only way to survive.

That theme resonated from coast to coast. At the University of California-Berkeley, speaker Sidney Rittenberg took a more intimate approach to U.S.-China relations. A man who lived in China for 35 years, Rittenberg has worked for the past two decades as an advisor to major corporations doing business in China such as AIG, Intel, Hughes Aircraft, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and Ford. At the Bay Area gathering he emphasized respect and dignity through his own stories, and instead of categorizing the issues into right and wrong Rittenberg advocates looking at the bigger picture. For him the imperative for Americans is to learn to get along with the Chinese.

“We must -- we don't have a choice. The crises that threaten the human race, like weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorist groups, global warming, none of the issues will get resolved unless we work with China, Brazil, India and of course Europe and other countries. Really the central axis that holds the whole thing together is the U.S. and China," Rittenberg said.

The second annual China Town Halls were sponsored by the National Committee on United States-China Relations, the oldest organization dedicated to education and productive U.S.-China relations, in cooperation with local groups / colleges such as the Law School at U. Penn, the University of Michigan, Colby College in Maine and Yale University among the 38 locales.