Challenges to Survival are Global and Require Cooperation

Our recent trip to Beijing coincided with the meltdown of the US credit market. Several senior Chinese sources from the government and academia proudly told us that President Bush and President Hu Jintao spoke over the telephone about the financial crisis, and Hu, unlike European leaders, assured Bush of China’s assistance in ending the crisis.

US Treasury Secretary Paulson said this week, "It is clear that China accepts its responsibility as a major world economy that will work with the United States and other partners to ensure global economic stability."

In our interconnected world, the nature of the more serious challenges to survival are global and therefore require cooperation, not political jockeying. The current financial crisis is an immediate example; the climate crisis is a longer-term example. Only through cooperation can these two giants continue to be prosperous.