Bush's Man in Beijing; in a Canny Move, the President Entrusted Zoellick with the Crucial China Mission

Glain, Stephen, Newsweek International

Byline: Stephen Glain

The Bush Administration's point man on China is Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, a fierce and sometimes combative moderate who was handed the job largely by default. Last week in Beijing he wrapped up the first round of a bilateral dialogue that puts him in the driver's seat of one of Washington's most crucial relationships. But Zoellick has the backing of George Bush, a fellow pragmatist--at least on China--who kids Zoellick for being something of a nerd.

Zoellick can be as imperious as he is intelligent and bookish. His appointment in January by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was applauded by foreign-policy realists as a counterweight to the White House ideologues. With the rest of the President's inner circle focused on the war in Iraq, Zoellick has made several trips to Asia during the last several months, where his aggressive engagement of China and pro-free-trade gospel jars with an increasingly protectionist Congress. Just last week, as Zoellick assured his hosts in Beijing that Washington was eager to strengthen …

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Publication information: Article title: Bush's Man in Beijing; in a Canny Move, the President Entrusted Zoellick with the Crucial China Mission. Contributors: Glain, Stephen - Author. Magazine title: Newsweek International. Publication date: August 15, 2005. Page number: 38. © 2009 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Any reuse, distribution or alteration without express written permission of Newsweek is prohibited. For permission: www.newsweek.com. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.

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