Beijing was caught off guard by our show of resolve, partly due to a mistaken belief we would not respond to its intimidation of Taiwan. Had regular summits occurred before that, this misperception might have been avoided. On the positive side, Beijing's assistance in freezing North Korea's nuclear weapons program in 1994 shows the gains to be made from Sino-American cooperation. Beijing's importance to U.S. interests also is economic, beyond the approximately 240,000 jobs generated by U.S. exports to China. A principal threat to our prosperity is the financial, trade and political crisis engulfing Asia.
China still has the region's fastest-growing major economy.
Finally, the inability of the U.S. and China to cooperate would make Asia's current woes more intractable. Indonesia is in political and economic distress. India and Pakistan have detonated nuclear devices. South Korea and Japan are in deep economic trouble. No one in Asia wants the added problem of U.S.-China discord that would increase tension and uncertainty in the region.