Word: china
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...Relations between the two powers came under strain again in January after Obama approved a $6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China considers part of its territory. A month later, Obama met the Dalai Lama at the White House, further angering the Chinese, who consider the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to be a "splittist" who advocates independence for Tibet. Wen blamed the U.S. for the recent difficulties, specifically citing the Taiwan arms sale and the Dalai Lama meeting. "The responsibility for the serious disruption in U.S.-China ties does not lie with the Chinese side...
...Taiwan and Tibet have long been points of dispute between the U.S. and China. During 2009 they were largely avoided, as Obama delayed final approval of the arms sale, which was initially greenlighted by his predecessor, George W. Bush, and postponed the Dalai Lama meeting to avoid offending Beijing ahead of his first state visit to China. Following this year's arms-sale announcement, however, China cut off high-level military exchanges with the U.S., which had been recently restored following China's protest over a previous weapons package that was approved by Bush...
...Broaching two sensitive issues in such a short time period would inevitably weaken ties, but other issues have contributed. After U.S. Internet giant Google threatened to pull out of China in January, citing Chinese censorship and sophisticated hacking attacks on its infrastructure, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cited China in a speech in support of online freedom. China and Google have held talks recently, and the Financial Times reported on Saturday that the company was "99.9 %" certain to close its google.cn site, which is aimed at Chinese users and censors search returns according to Chinese regulations...
...trade looms even larger as a source of tension between the two sides. Last year, China's economy expanded at a robust 8.7% despite the global downturn. As the U.S. and other nations struggle to resume growth and reduce high unemployment, they are eyeing China's performance with both envy and agitation. In April, the U.S. Treasury Department will be required by law to declare whether China manipulates its currency - an announcement that could fuel calls in Congress for retaliatory measures against the nation...
...speech on Sunday, Wen shot down expectations that China would allow the value of the renminbi to appreciate significantly, saying it was correctly valued and would remain "basically stable at a reasonable level" this year. "We oppose nations finger-pointing or even using forceful methods to compel a country to raise the value of its currency," he said. He also worried openly about the value of China's dollar-denominated assets, including $895 billion in U.S. Treasury debt. He warned the U.S. not to depreciate its currency to boost trade, as it would hurt the value of Chinese-held assets...