The Obama administration’s recent statements about China might hinder Obama’s desire to improve the United States’ relations with all nations of the world. While some Chinese students at Washington University are not attuned to the discourse between China and the United States, others understand the controversy but are optimistic about the future.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former head of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve, recently asserted in a speech that the Chinese government manipulates its currency.

This statement adds to the uneasiness the Chinese government already feels toward the new president and his administration.

According to experts on China, the government is concerned that the Obama administration will also take a hard stance on pollution generated by Chinese factories and on human rights violations.

The uneasiness was expressed in an editorial last week published in the China Daily, which praised former President Bush’s actions toward China and pondered what the Obama administration’s intents toward China might be.

China is in a less comfortable position than it was just two weeks ago during the Bush administration. Bush and Henry Paulson, secretary of the Treasury in the Bush administration, sought to improve relations with China by working with Chinese leaders and not taking stances on controversial Chinese issues.

Since Obama has little experience working with China, and because none of his advisers are experts on Chinese diplomacy, some fear that relations between the United States and China will fall apart.

“Just from my opinion, its hard to say whether Obama will hurt China because Obama just became the president,” Ph.D. student Baili Min said. “We haven’t seen his actions yet, but I don’t think that Chinese people will fear Obama, because the Chinese-American relationship is not decided by the personality of just one president; there are so many things to consider.”

Others, however, do not follow the Chinese-United States diplomatic dynamic while at the University.

“I’m really not positive about the Chinese-American political situation,” freshman Jennifer Ma said.

Despite the Chinese government’s fears about Obama, since November, Obama has become a popular figure among young Chinese people, with a Chinese translation of his book “The Audacity of Hope” soaring to bestseller lists there.

“Everyone now knows Obama is the president of the United States,” Ma said. “The Chinese people want the [Chinese] government to be friendly toward Obama.”

Many people in China, Min said, are hoping that Obama will reform some aspects of American society to China’s benefit.

“We think he will bring some reforms to some fields in United States society like education,” Min said. “College students pay attention to that because it may become easier for Chinese students to apply to American graduate schools. We also want to see whether there will be some sort of visa reform to make traveling between the United States and China easier.”

Despite the Chinese government’s concerns, some Chinese people have high hopes for Obama.

“Everyone wishes the new president will make Chinese relationships with America better,” Min said. “We haven’t seen Obama’s reaction. We don’t know if he will be good to China or bring hard times to China.”

Other students noted that the relationship between Obama and Beijing will depend on whether those in power in China acclimate themselves to his policies.

“Only time will tell how the Chinese government will respond to Obama,” freshman Chris Lo said.

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Tags: Barack Obama, china, federal reserve, timothy geithner

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