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US-China ties warmer, but not for long

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Everything seems suddenly to have become rosier in US-China relations. Three weeks ago Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, on his way back home from a trip to India, made a seemingly unscheduled visit with VicePremier Wang Qishan.

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Days before, the US Treasury decided to postpone a report that might name China as a currency manipulator. Meanwhile, that same week, President Hu Jintao said he would attend the nuclear security conference in Washington in mid-April after a reportedly friendly one-hour telephone conversation between him and President Barack Obama.

The relationship between China and the US, after several very difficult weeks of bluster and name calling, seems suddenly to have improved. Just weeks ago each side was accusing the other of protectionism and threatening retaliation.

In early April, 130 angry US congressmen sent a letter to the US Treasury and Commerce secretaries demanding action against China. Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming responded by warning that the US would suffer more than China in a trade war - apparently unaware that historical precedents suggest that trade-surplus countries are always the most vulnerable.

After all the rage, nearly everyone welcomed the improvement in the atmosphere.

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It is widely agreed that the increasingly bitter argument over the role of China's currency peg in the global imbalances would not make an adjustment easier.

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