BEIJING — With China facing pressure from the United States to appreciate the yuan to balance the trade imbalance, analysts are urging Japan to play the role of mediator.
Japan, which has advised China to make a "sensible judgment" in reforming its dollar-pegged currency policy, can help the two countries narrow the gap in the next three months, which U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner calls a "crucial" period in "advancing U.S. interests," the analysts say.
Geithner said Saturday the U.S. will conduct currency diplomacy with China at venues such as the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20 major economies later this month in Washington, a U.S.-China strategic and economic dialogue in China in May, and another meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in June in South Korea.