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Get Flash Player At the time of the historic meeting in Sunnylands between Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping, many wondered if the pronouncements of personal bonhomie and mutual bilateral cooperation were mere diplomatic niceties papering over irreconcilable differences, or truly the start of a new, more positive, relationship between the dominant power, the US, and the rising power, China. Now with the conclusion of the fifth session of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), the first fruits of that tie-less encounter are appearing, and the harvest looks promising. While some cynical observers have concluded that the only major flowering of the new Sino-American relationship at the S&ED was to fast-track a Chinese garden in Washington's National Botanical Garden, I wholeheartedly disagree. To me, during the confidence building stage of this new relationship, attitude is as important as substance. The Chinese could have easily torpedoed this S&ED to express its pique over the Snowden revelations. The US could have done so over Hong Kong's refusal to hand Snowden over to the US to face the American justice system. Instead, positions were strongly expressed and duly noted, and the dialogue was able to occur. In addition to progress on issues such as improved military-to-military cooperation, the environment and a host of other issues, China's new stance after nine previous inconclusive sessions on a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is big news, although the hardest work is yet to come and due to ongoing Congressional paralysis, US approval requiring a two-thirds majority in the Senate should a mutually acceptable treaty be negotiated, is, at best, probably years away. However, this treaty could be a game-changer! | 
