HONG KONG — The joint statement released during the state visit to the United States by Chinese President Hu Jintao is in some ways strikingly different from a similar joint statement issued in November 2009 during American President Barack Obama's state visit to China.
On the surface, they appear very similar. Indeed, the latest joint statement contains a line saying that the two presidents "further reaffirmed their commitment to the November 2009 U.S.-China Joint Statement."
However, the repetition of certain sentences and the omission of others suggest that Washington has decided that it had gone too far to appease Beijing the last time, particularly where Taiwan is concerned.