A new era for world powers

Meeting of minds: Xi talking to Obama during a high-level ‘Leaders Summit on Peacekeeping’ during the 70th session General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York. — EPA

THE visit last week by President Xi Jinping to the United States was significant on many levels. It will take months, perhaps years, to fully gauge its implications, but it is not too soon to make some preliminary remarks.

While the main focus was on the fact that it was a full scale state visit with all the trappings, the programme actually comprised three legs: a high-profile meeting with US business leaders in Washington State; the formal state visit in Washington DC including meetings with President Barack Obama; and a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

On the first leg, Xi assured the US business community that China would remain open to them – as a market for their products and services, as a destination for their investments, and as a source of the goods US consumers want. The underlying message was a very important one: China is now fully plugged in to the global economy, and intends to remain so forever.

The second leg was more notable for the pomp and ceremony rather than for its tangible achievements. There was a Guard of Honour to be inspected, a 21-gun salute on the South Lawn of the White House, a full-scale state dinner plus several meetings with Obama in greater or smaller groups, and even a “private” stroll in the garden.

The third leg saw Xi in the role of international statesman. His measured address to the world body included a pledge of US$2bil (RM8.82bil) to help poorer countries to develop, and the promise of debt relief to those governments who are most hard up.

All high-profile visits of this type have three distinct audiences – one in the host country, one in the home country, and one in the international community at large.

It is probably fair to say that the public in the US took more interest in the coincidental visit of Pope Francis. Then just when the focus began to swing back toward the Chinese leader, the Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner announced his resignation and briefly captured the headlines.

Nonetheless, it is the visit of China’s president that will have left the more enduring and deeper impression, especially with the audience that matters most in politics, the media and commerce. The sight of the titans of US business queueing up to greet him on arrival in Seattle, Washington, will linger, as will the mutual respect shown during the formal proceedings, and the heavyweight address to the UN. All these have raised China’s profile with the US people.

For Obama, the visit required the striking of a delicate balance. His overriding priority during the next 16 months is to preserve the main items of his legacy, in particular the Iran nuclear deal and the affordable healthcare legislation.

That means, if possible, he must try to ensure that another member of the Democratic Party succeeds him. If the Republicans were to take the White House and maintain their majorities in both houses of Congress, they could do a great deal to undermine his achievements. The audience back home in China cannot fail to have been impressed. There was the president rubbing shoulders with Bill Gates, Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg – all household names – who could not wait to greet Xi. Similarly, officials at all levels will have got the message that engagement with the US is inevitable and needs to be handled pragmatically. Recognition for Xi as a major player in front of the UN added further luster.

Other nations around the world will have seen the same events as people in the US and China. Government leaders in Tokyo, Seoul, Pyongyang, Canberra and other capitals will have to factor in the developments in Sino-US relations to their own policies and strategies going forward. The world has changed and a new era has begun. - China Daily

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China-US new type of major power relations: positive narratives needed to help turn negative tide

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

New type of great power relations

Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to the US comes amid the two sides' pledge to push for a "new type of great power relations." Though tensions come part and parcel of ties between great powers, China and the US have vowed to navigate those dangerous waters through dialogue.

http://t.cn/RyJMfbB

China-US are on way to a new type of major power relations



Recently, worries have been heard in the Western academia and strategic circles on China's development direction, foreign policy changes and thus the possible deterioration of China-US relations.

Two catchy phrases are mostly used to describe the current situation, the "Thucydides's Trap" and "tipping point."

The "Thucydides's Trap," which means a rising power generates fear in an established power that it ultimately leads to a war between the two, is not persuasive to describe the possible prospect of nowadays China-US relations. On the one hand, it neglects significant changes of the external environment. In addition, the theory hardly explains the peaceful transition of power in history.

On the other hand, the "Thucydides's Trap" puts too much blame on the threat of the rising country, missing the possibility that the established country could be more comfortable in launching a preemptive war.

"Tipping point" is another phrase that has caused a round of discussion about China-US relations in both countries. David Lampton, a senior China scholar, delivered a speech in May, worrying that China-US relations were approaching "a tipping point." After that, some US politicians and scholars followed the suit and expressed worries about bilateral relations. Even in China, people began to write articles, discussing how to avoid a hot war with the US.

Paying too much attention on the two phrases will exaggerate the competitive sides of the two countries and are not helpful for China-US relations. It will lead people to imagine more difficulties and feel frustrated about the relations.

We should adopt positive narrative about China-US relations and concentrate more on cooperation rather than competition.

It is a good chance for the two countries to strengthen the positive and grand narrative about bilateral relations during the upcoming state visit paid by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US. A new type of major power relationship in general is a useful guideline and positive narrative for the future development of bilateral ties.

Meanwhile, the two countries should inject more concrete contents into the idea by narrowing divergences and expanding cooperation. China-US relations are the most important and complex bilateral relations in the world. It is impossible for the two countries to shun competition, but strengthening bilateral cooperation still forms the major part of the relations.

China and the US need each other. Although some US scholars and politicians argued that the US government should change its grand strategy toward China, namely balancing China's rise, the fact is that the US needs China's cooperation on a bunch of issues ranging from bilateral issues to global governance such as climate change.

Xi's visit will provide a great opportunity to facilitate cooperation between the two countries. The communication between the two leaders will first of all enhance the strategic mutual trust and ensure the relations on the right track. Numerous highlights might pop up during Xi's visit.

On cyber security, the two may reach some fundamental consensus like promising not to attack each other's key infrastructure, regulating their own actions and forming basic norms.

On economic cooperation, as the top two economies in the world, the countries should express their willingness to lead the global economic development.

On climate change, the countries may carry on the momentum and release another joint announcement to accumulate more dynamism for the upcoming Paris Climate Conference.

In addition, Xi might share his experience of China's development path to disperse US misunderstandings about China's domestic policies and interact with the US public, offering a solid foundation of the bilateral relations.

By Sun Chenghao Source:Global Times

The author is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

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Young adults stress key role of Sino-US ties ahead of Xi's trip

Nearly 80 percent of young US respondents are interested in Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the country, according to a survey by China Daily.

US mind-boggling politicians: stop rocking the boat, China Daily said

Furloughed federal employees, along with their family members, protest the government shutdown outside the US Capitol in Washington DC, USA, 08 October 2013. The federal shutdown in the US is in its second week - EPA Photo.

The prospect of dimmer global growth predicted by the International Monetary Fund should make it a matter of urgency for US politicians to stop manufacturing crises.

Five years after the start of the global financial meltdown triggered by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, it is pitiful that the US is now putting the fragile global recovery under renewed threat with its mind-boggling political infighting.

The IMF on Tuesday cut its global growth forecast to 2.9 percent this year and 3.6 percent for next year. This year's growth forecast is 0.3 percentage points lower, and next year's 0.2 percentage points down, than the July projection.

Indeed, the growth slowdown in major emerging economies, as the Washington-based global lender identified, will contribute to a global growth fall in the coming years. Both cyclical and structural problems in these economies are demanding immediate and bold reforms to make growth more sustainable.

However, when financial ministers and central bankers gather in Washington later this week to discuss global growth issues, they will be lucky if their attention is not too distracted by the US government shutdown.

The inconvenience caused by the shutdown may be the least of their worries. The elephant in the room, the once inconceivable notion of the US defaulting on its debt and ensuing dollar upheavals will have to be acknowledged.

As the world's largest economy and the home of the global reserve currency, the US surely has the wherewithal to fund its government and avoid a catastrophic default by raising its self-imposed debt ceiling.

Yet the astonishing failure of the US Congress to put national needs before their partisan interests has sparked fears among investors and governments around the world that maybe it is time to think about the unthinkable.

That may explain why the biggest US creditors, China and Japan, have expressed concern over developments in Washington which could affect their several-trillion-dollar investments in US Treasury bonds.

US politicians can discuss, bicker and argue over government spending and economic growth. Kicking cans is one thing, but throwing caution to the wind is not a course of action worthy of the world's leading economy.

-  China Daily

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USA government shutdown !

IMF, China, Japan warn USA's debts on default! Demystifying the US debt ceiling

UNITED States (U.S.) President Barack Obama Tuesday declared that he was willing to negotiate with Republicans in passing at least a short-term budget that opens up the government at current funding levels.

But Obama, during a media briefing Tuesday, said his offer to negotiate with Republicans on the issues would “absolutely” stand if Congress passes even short-term clean spending and debt ceiling bills.

However, he declared that “the only thing that I will say is, we’re not going to pay ransom for” America paying its bills.

This came as it was revealed yesterday that there are no talks going on at any level to resolve differences over the government shutdown and the debt ceiling deadline.

But Washington’s march toward self-inflicted financial calamity is setting off alarm bells around the world as general bewilderment turns into genuine concern over a possible default by the world’s lone superpower.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as China and Japan – which hold a combined $2.4 trillion in U.S. debt – have called for a quick resolution to the crisis and expressed worries over the economic consequences of a default.

Meanwhile, Obama said U.S. credit-worthiness will be affected if markets see that “we’re not paying all our bills on time.”

Noting that he missed a major conference in Asia this week because of the government shutdown issues, said the president said: “whenever we do these things, it hurts our credibility around the world. Makes it look like we don’t have our act together.”

He warned that if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling, “every American could see their 401Ks and home values fall,” and the country would see a “very significant risk” of a deep recession.

Obama said that Congress has to vote to raise the debt ceiling as soon as it votes to reopen the government. Failing to raise the debt ceiling “would be dramatically worse” than a government shutdown, he said.

He criticised House Republican tactics in dealing with the government shutdown and a debt ceiling increase. “Let’s lift these threats from our families and our businesses and let’s get down to work,” he told reporters yesterday.

Obama spoke after Republicans reportedly offered a new approach yesterday to resolve the U.S. fiscal standoff, proposing creation of a bipartisan panel to work on deficit reduction and find ways to end the government shutdown and make recommendations on a debt-limit increase.

The proposal, which was quickly dismissed by Democrats, came as House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama spoke by telephone shortly after Boehner adopted a slightly more conciliatory tone in comments to reporters.

“There are no boundaries here. There’s nothing on the table, there’s nothing off the table,” Boehner said after a meeting with House Republicans, making no mention of his recent demands to delay parts of Obama’s healthcare law in return for approving funds to end the government shutdown.

In the first official response by China, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said that a solution must be found quickly in order to “ensure the safety of Chinese investments” and provide stability for economies around the globe.

“We ask that the United States earnestly take steps to resolve in a timely way the political issues around the debt ceiling and prevent a debt default,” he said. “This is the United States’ responsibility.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has trimmed its forecast for global economic growth at the same time as lifting its UK growth projection.

It now expects global growth of 2.9% this year, a cut of 0.3% from July’s estimate. In 2014 it expects global growth of 3.6%, down 0.2%.

It cited weakness in emerging economies for the cut.

But it warns that the political standoff over raising the US government’s borrowing limit, if it results in the US defaulting on its debt payments, “could seriously damage the global economy”.

It expects growth of 1.6% in the US this year and 2.6% next year, down 0.1% and 0.2% from its July forecast.

Economists have predicted that a default would do great harm to economies around the world.
Obama recounted to reporters his telephone discussion yesterday morning with House Speaker John Boehner:

He was happy to eventually talk with Republicans about issues they care about, but that “shouldn’t require threats of a government shutdown” or economic chaos over the heads of the American people.

Yesterday, there were news conferences and a high-level phone call between Obama and the House Speaker, but no immediate sign of progress on reopening the government a week into a partial shutdown or reaching a deal to avoid the first-ever U.S. default next week.

Obama called Boehner yesterday morning, and the White House then announced the president would make a statement and take some questions from reporters at 2 p.m. ET.

Earlier, Boehner demanded that Obama and Democrats negotiate with Republicans on steps needed to end the shutdown that began on October 1 and raise the nation’s debt ceiling before the deadline for default on October 17.

“Americans expect us to work out our differences, but refusing to negotiate is an untenable position,” Boehner said, adding that Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are “putting our country on a pretty dangerous path” by rejecting GOP calls for talks

- The Guardian

Demystifying the US debt ceiling: 5 things you should know

As the US government is about to hit its so-called debt ceiling of $16.7 trillion on Oct. 17, the frightening prospect of the world’s biggest economy running out of cash is dominating headlines around the globe.

So, in an effort to shine some light on what exactly the debt ceiling means to all of us, Business RT spoke to leading Moscow financial expert Chris Weafer, a senior partner at Macro-Advisory.com.

1  What exactly is the “debt ceiling?”
 
The US debt ceiling has existed for almost a century, and describes the maximum amount of money the US can legally borrow. The country introduced the legislative limit on its debt back in 1917, and since then it has stipulated the affordable amount of national debt that can be issued by the US Treasury. As of September 25, the US Treasury reported federal government debt at just shy of $16.7 trillion
($16,699,396,000,000.00, to be exact) in its daily statement, a figure which has been reported for 130 days straight. This is about $25 billion shy of the precise legal limit – $16,699,421,095,673.60. When the US approaches this debt limit, it can take some “extraordinary measures” to buy some time before Congress agrees to raise the ceiling. In its entire history, the US has so far never reached the point of default, where Treasury can’t pay its debt obligations.

2  Who holds the US debt?
 

The US owes about two-thirds of its debt to US-based creditors, with almost 66 percent of the country’s debt held domestically. US individuals and financial institutions hold around 31.7 percent of US Treasuries, with the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, which holds some 12 percent of the debt. Foreign creditors, including China and Japan, own an estimated 34 percent of total US government debt. These two 'big lender' countries have recently urged the US to take decisive steps to avoid a default.

3 What does the US borrow the money for?
 
In the US, often referred to as a 'big-spending' country, both individuals and the government have habitually spent more than they earn, pushing the economy deeper into debt.

“Just like any ordinary individual, the choice is either to cut back on spending or to borrow money to bridge the gap,” Weafer says.

In 2012, 22 percent of total government expenditures went to social security (means-tested payments to the poor and unemployed), while 21 percent was spent on healthcare, again mostly for poor Americans who cannot afford private health insurance. The third largest expenditure item is defense at 19 percent. In recent decades, the US defense bill has ballooned, mainly due to costly wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The so-called War on Terror has also added greatly to the debt burden, while the Department of Homeland Security, created after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, has cost taxpayers more than a cumulative $800 billion.

The biggest contributory factor to the fast-growing debt mountain in recent years, however, has been the economic crisis that began in 2008. Apart from hundreds of billions of dollars paid out to rescue failing Wall Street banks that had made too many toxic loans, the US government has also paid out large amounts on vital social programs to aid the growing 'army of the unemployed'. Coupled with the Bush-era tax cuts to the rich and big business, lower average incomes and greater unemployment have hit government tax revenues hard, sending federal government debt sky-high.

4  Why can’t they simply print more dollars and pay their debt?
 

No economy in the world can simply turn on its printing presses and create as much cash as it wishes, as this would make its currency worthless.

“If the amount of currency in issue is not sensibly related to the strength of the economy, then foreign trade partners will … devalue the currency quickly,” Weafer explains. “If you have one asset and income source which allows you to issue one dollar, and then you print one more dollar, everybody else will see what you have done and will value your one dollar at only 50 cents. Some countries have done that in the past, but in those cases people soon had to use suitcases just to carry enough currency to buy a loaf of bread.”
 
Under the Bretton Woods financial system, established in 1944, the amount of currency in circulation was linked to gold reserves. But in 1971, the US abandoned this system and started to include a number of other economic factors, based on a recognized ability to service debt and prevent inflation, and maintain orderly trade with the rest of the world.

5 How would a US default affect people around the world, on a macro and personal level?
 
If the US defaulted, then the world’s financial system “would start to freeze up,” Weafer says. “Banks would pull back from risk and lending. The US economy would slide towards recession and the global economy would quickly be affected.” A prolonged US default would lead to job losses everywhere and much tougher borrowing conditions for companies and individuals, he adds.

“A short period of default would also have a bad effect in that it would hurt confidence in the world’s financial system,” he says. “Bankers and investors would assume that a short-term fix in the US would mean it would only be a matter of time before the same issue arises again in 2014. The resulting caution would make life that much tougher for all of us.”
 
- RT news

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 USA government shutdown !

USA government shutdown !

The mood was grim at the Capitol Monday as Democrats and Republicans couldn't get it together for the good of the nation. 

OUT OF SERVICE: Federal government enters first shutdown in 17 years; lawmakers remain divided over Obamacare

The U.S. government has shut down as Democrats and Republicans refuse to negotiate on Capitol Hill. GOP leaders remain determined that key aspects of Obamacare must be delayed, while President Obama insists that the demand 'is the height of irresponsibility.'

WASHINGTON — The first shutdown of the U.S. government in 17 years began early Tuesday as Congress bickered and bungled an effort to fund federal agencies due to a bitter ideological standoff over Obamacare.

The embarrassing disruption that an angry President Obama said was “entirely preventable” and would “throw a wrench into the gears” of the country’s recovering economy was triggered as a midnight deadline passed without agreement between the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-run Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) disclosed at midnight that the White House budget office had directed agencies to start closing up shop. He then called a recess until 9:30 a.m., meaning that there would be no House-Senate deal in the wee hours Tuesday.

Susan Walsh/AP

President Obama criticized Republicans' efforts to delay key aspects of the Affordable Care Act.

The shutdown would keep 800,000 federal workers at home on Tuesday and inconvenience millions of people who rely on federal services or are drawn to the nation’s parks and other attractions. Critical workers, from the Border Patrol to air-traffic controllers, would remain on the job, unpaid.

Legislation was passed, however, to fund the armed services during the shutdown.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

House Speaker John Boehner said Obamacare 'is having a devastating impact.'

Despite the drama, members of Congress faced no threat to their own pay, because the 27th Amendment to the Constitution bars their salaries from being subjected to the annual appropriations process. Obama, too, will still be paid.

PHOTOS: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FURLOUGHS THOUSANDS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

Conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who made himself the face of the GOP effort to block Obamacare through the funding bill, pledged Monday to donate his salary to charity during the shutdown.

Photos by AP, Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News

 

Many Americans will be inconvenienced by a shutdown.

Repeatedly Monday, amid all the political posturing and rhetoric, the House amended a Senate resolution to fund the government to add a one-year delay in Obamacare, and other alterations. Repeatedly the Senate rejected those conservative-backed changes.

The House was expected to pass the latest health-care law changes in an early morning vote. The Senate was set to reject those additions when they return Tuesday.

RELATED: WARREN: NOT MUCH COURAGE ON CAPITOL HILL AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS

Win McNamee/Getty Images

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) arrives at the Capitol Monday. The Senate voted Monday to defeat a House bill that links keeping the government funded to delaying 'Obamacare' for one year.

As the nearly ridiculous legislative tit-for-tat played out, Obama went to the White House briefing room to insist that Republicans give up their demand to tie new money for the government to scuttling or delaying his health care law.

“One faction of one party in one house of Congress in one branch of government doesn’t get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election,” Obama said.

“You don’t get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you’re supposed to be doing anyway, or just because there’s a law there that you don’t like.”

The front page of the NY Daily News on October 1, 2013. 

 

RELATED: MEADOWS PUT GOVERNMENT ON ROAD TO SHUTDOWN

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) responded a few hours later on the House floor. “The American people don’t want a shutdown, and neither do I,” he said. Yet, he added, the new health care law “is having a devastating impact. . . . Something has to be done.”

Even more troubling than the shutdown was that the partisan stalemate that caused it sets the stage for an even more high-stakes clash, as Congress must soon deal with raising the debt limit by Oct. 17 — a matter in which both sides concede that failure would be perilous for the U.S. economy and economies worldwide. Republicans also want to attach conditions to that vote. Democrats said giving ground now would encourage Republicans to take a harder line in that fight.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

 

Congress remained gridlocked Monday over legislation to continue funding the federal government. The federal government shut down after both chambers failed to pass a resolution before midnight.

“You know with a bully you can’t let them slap you around because they slap you around today, they slap you five or six times tomorrow,” Reid said.

RELATED: PANDA-MONIUM: NATIONAL ZOO’S BELOVED PANDA CAM WILL SHUTTER IF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN

Monday’s failure on Capitol Hill caused the stock market to drop on fears that gridlock would continue and Congress would shoot the recovering economy in the foot. The Dow Jones slipped 128 points, or 0.8%.

Photo by AP

 

The last shutdown happened during President Clinton's time in office.

The fight also sent Congress’ already abysmal approval plunging to a new low. A CNN poll released late Monday found that just 10% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, while a record 87% disapprove. And Americans are blaming the Tea Party and its no-holds-barred-against-Obama stance for the crisis — the party had its lowest favorable rating in its five-year history, at 31%.

At times Monday, Washington seemed like a real-life “House of Cards,” the Netflix drama in which D.C. power players are motivated by dark self-interest rather than the national interest.

RELATED: US LAWMAKERS TRADE BARBS AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LOOMS

JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS 

Boehner arrives with his security detail at the Capitol on Monday, remained adamant that 'Obamacare' be delayed. 'This law is not ready for prime time,' he said.

Congress, and the government, needed to act because there was no authorization for the government to spend any money as of 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, the start of the new budget year.

Monday’s maneuvering began in the Democrat-controlled Senate, which voted, 54 to 46, to kill a House-passed bill that would keep the government funded but delay Obamacare for a year.

The Senate then sent the House a so-called “clean” bill — one that would simply keep government running through Nov. 15. With the ball back in their court, House Republicans sought different concessions in exchange for keeping the government funded. They called for a one-year delay in the Obamacare requirement for individuals to buy coverage.

Charles Dharapak/AP 

Only 36% of Americans blame President Obama for the shutdown, a poll released Monday showed. 46% blame Republicans. 

Sources: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Shutdown effects ripple across US

A string of cancellations and delays caused by the federal government shutdown is rippling across the United States, ruining dream vacations, upending carefully laid wedding plans and complicating the lives of millions of people.

From blood drives to daycare programs, musical performances to research projects, the disruptions caused by the political stalemate in Washington sparked growing frustrations and left people scrambling to make alternative plans.

Scores of weddings planned at national parks and monuments around the country were moved or postponed, and vacationers hustled to change their itineraries after finding iconic sites from the Statue of Liberty to the Lincoln Memorial closed.

"We're really disappointed. We spent a lot of days waiting for tickets so we just want to go inside the statue," said Gaelle Masse, a tourist from Paris who was startled to discover the Statue of Liberty was closed.
Thousands of tourists with prepaid tickets to visit Alcatraz Island, the famed prison site in San Francisco Bay, were unable to tour the former penitentiary.

In Boston, Italian tourist Federico Paliero and his girlfriend Claudia Costato peered through a closed metal gate to catch a glimpse of the USS Constitution, a wooden, three-masted US Navy ship from the 18th century docked in Boston Harbor that serves as one of the city's major attractions.

Normally buzzing with tourists, the site was nearly abandoned on Wednesday, except for a handful of people looking lost and dismayed as they gawked at a sign explaining the closure.

"Italy is not the only state with money problems," Paliero said, rubbing his thumb and forefingers together.

At Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, park staff said nearly 30 weddings scheduled for the next two weeks are threatened by the shutdown, which also sent hundreds of campers packing.

'WORRIED ABOUT RAIN'

Two dozen weddings planned at monuments on the Washington mall in October also were threatened, a park service spokeswoman said.

"I wasn't worried about the government shutting down. I was worried about rain," said bride-to-be MaiLien Le, who was planning to walk down the aisle at the Jefferson Memorial on Saturday.

Having to possibly change venues just days before her wedding is "really upsetting," she said on NBC's "Today" show.

In northern Virginia, officials canceled blood drives that would have provided transfusions for up to 900 area patients.

The Library of Congress in Washington closed its doors, disrupting research projects and canceling a musical performance by Randy Newman.

About one-fifth of the classes at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, were scrapped, and science laboratories at the school were shut down as furloughs for civilian Defense Department employees took hold.

The Smithsonian, which shuttered all of its museums and the National Zoo, also had to close its early childhood center even though many parents had already paid between $300 and $400 in tuition for the week, according to local radio station WTOP.

"When you have to sit down and explain to a 5-year-old why he can't go to school, it's a difficult conversation," Virginia resident Brian Katz, whose two children attend the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center housed in the Natural History Museum, told a local Fox television station.

Juleon Rabbani, 28, got a call from the National Park Service informing him that his scientific research in national parks would be shut down for now, compounding funding issues he was already facing.

"I wanted to graduate in the fall of 2014, but with my funding being held up and since my research sites are national parks, it will be well into 2015 before I am done," he said. "The funding I need won't come through, and who knows how long this shutdown will be."

Some Washington businesses faced growing uncertainty as the shutdown continued, keeping government events away from hotels and federal workers out of their usual restaurants.

David Hill, general manager for two area hotels, said two dozen events at the hotels have been canceled in the coming weeks, including one large government group that triggered a $45,000 loss.

"What I've told my team is: for us, it's business as usual ... but everything in the future is in limbo," said Hill, who manages the Phoenix Park Hotel just blocks from the US Capitol and the Four Points by Sheraton near the White House.

Grain traders in Chicago were preparing to cope without weekly US Department of Agriculture data on export sales typically released on Thursdays. The data, covering sales the previous week, can roil prices for crops like corn and wheat if demand is unexpectedly strong or weak.

"For now, we'll go with our best guesses," said Sterling Smith, futures specialist for Citigroup.

Traders and analysts were frustrated that USDA websites went dark as a result of the federal shutdown. They mine the sites for data on crop supplies and demand to project price trends.

Terry Reilly, analyst for Futures International, said he could not complete presentations on the grain markets for clients because USDA data was unavailable.

"It makes no sense to me that they would shut down their websites," he said.

Sources: Reuters

New China-US relationship can avoid past traps

 

President Xi Jinping of China and President Obama took a walk Saturday on the grounds of the Sunnylands estate in California. 

At the informal meeting between the heads of China and the US on Friday, Xi Jinping expressed China's confidence that the two nations can avoid repeating history of conflicts between two powers; while Barack Obama welcomed China's peaceful rise.

This may be the most exciting statement between an existing power and a rising power. As Chinese, we can feel that the Chinese leader was speaking from the nation's heart, though we do not know if Obama was just trying to assure his guest, or expressing the real feelings of Americans.

This is a reflection of long-term strategic distrust between the two countries. We often doubt whether the real intentions of the US are not as friendly as its leader has stated. On the other hand, the Americans may not really believe what China has declared.

Relations between China and the US are more complicated than ever. There are numerous cases of frictions between the two countries in various areas, which have heavily influenced public opinions on both sides.

China cares about individual issues as much as the US. But it baffles us when the US raises many issues, such as cyber security, to a height closely related to strategic relations between the two countries. Is it a hoax to threaten China, or is it because the US believes each of the issues is more important than anything else?

The US leadership style has changed as each opposing political party takes charge. It appears urgent for each president to solve a particular issue. They have to make sure the handling of the Sino-US relationship is practical and yields tangible results as soon as possible.

It's unfair to think that China does not want to solve concrete issues. But what the US has demanded is often impossible for China to comply with.

Some of the demands are too selfish, which may require China to compromise its national interests while the US refuses to concede an inch. Other issues, such as intellectual property rights, may simply be too complicated to immediately solve.

The new relationship between the two powers will be based on a restructuring of the two countries' strategic thoughts as well as approaches in particular issues. It is not going to be easy for either leader to avoid misinterpreting the other side's intentions.

The new ties will require greater tolerance of each other. China and the US must realize that even a husband and wife can not avoid quarrels and have to tolerate each other.

Although the Sino-US relationship will see ups and downs, we know it would be even more difficult to deal with a major setback, as that would be against this historic momentum - Global Times

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Xi-Obama summit aims to boost ties, aspirations between China and USA

Xi-Obama summit aims to boost ties, aspirations between China and USA

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L, front) shakes hands with US President Barack Obama at the Annenberg Retreat, California, the United States, June 7, 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, met Friday to exchange views on major issues of common concern. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping (1st R) meets with U.S. President Barack Obama (1st L) at the Annenberg Retreat, California, the United States, June 7, 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, met Friday to exchange views on major issues of common concern. Photo: Xinhua

Southern California residents are preparing a warm welcome for presidents of the world's two largest economies ahead of their two-day summit at Sunnylands. Anticipation is high for closer Sino-US ties that will help people from both countries pursue their own dreams.

"I'm glad that both presidents will come. I'm sure once they see Sunnylands, they'll want to see it again," John Benoit, chair of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, said of the exclusive Rancho Mirage estate.

Benoit, a local highway patrol commander during the late 1980s when then-President Ronald Reagan regularly visited Sunnylands for New Year's Eve, told the Global Times he was eager to see the winter retreat formerly owned by late philanthropists Walter and Leonore Annenberg become the "Camp Davis of the West Coast" ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit.

"People in the world all dream about having a better life for themselves and their children," said Benoit, whose father's cousin was a priest in China during the 1940s. Benoit said that both the American and Chinese dreams have their own obstacles and opportunities, adding American people "have more challenges today than in the past."

John Harley, who works at a Riverside County-based company that grows and sells grapes, noted people from China and the US share common aspirations. "We're all people, and we all desire the same things: happiness, love and family," he said.

Harley told the Global Times that his company, which exports grapes to Shanghai and Hong Kong, posts an annual revenue of $15 million. "I see this business growing over the next decade. The better the relationship between the two governments, the better it is for our businesses."

Edward Chenghua Cai, president of the Southern California Chinese-American Federation, noted some Chinese-Americans had flocked to Rancho Mirage two days ahead of the private summit, which begins Friday, to express their hopes for deeper ties.

Wai-Jen Jeffries, president of the US National Organization of Chinese Women, told the Global Times she has personally known Xi for over two decades, having met the president during his visit to the US as  Party chief of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, in the 1990s.

"He's very easygoing and not interested in formalities at all. He calls me 'elder sister' every time I see him," she said of Xi. "I'm sure the two presidents' pragmatism will strike up the two countries' ties and bring people on both sides more benefits."

By Xu Yan and Sun Weichi in Rancho Mirage Global Times