Help get relations right

He may have been overly optimistic in portraying relations between the United States and China as "friendship", but Max Baucus, the new US ambassador to China, hit the nail on the head when he said the two countries had to get their relationship right.

Despite all the rhetoric about a partnership, at the moment our countries are half-heartedly working together and endeavoring to build mutual trust because neither can afford to antagonize the other.

Ambassador Baucus' immediate predecessor, Gary Locke, didn't see much headway in improving bilateral ties, not because he didn't work hard. His less-than-impressive personal record in China was symptomatic of Washington's inability to adapt to a rapidly changing China.