With so many issues swirling around the globe right now- from the economic turmoil to the coming Copenhagen summit to the wars in and around the Middle East- it is good to see Obama holding strong on requests that China respect and protect the rights of religious and ethnic minorities.

High-level talks between Washington and Beijing are beginning this week and Obama’s message of respect for minorities in China by their government were part of his initial statements, setting the context for the conversations to come during the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Recent clashes between the Uighurs and the Han in western China have brought human rights to center stage as the talks begin.

"Just as we respect China's ancient culture and remarkable achievements, we also strongly believe that the religion and culture of all peoples must be respected and protected, and that all people should be free to speak their minds. That includes ethnic and religious minorities in China, as surely as it includes minorities within the United States," said Obama.

The meetings will expand on conversations begun with the Bush Administration, primarily dealing with economic issues. The talks will now encompass climate change and nuclear weapons, and apparently human rights. That’s a lot to cover in just a few days, so we’ll see if anything meaningful comes out of the talks. Obama will have to shift gears from his drive for support on the domestic issue of universal health care to think at the 50,000 ft. view about long-term foreign policy.
North Korea and their nuclear weapons program is also a hot button issue:

Obama said that the two countries, “must continue our collaboration to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and make it clear to North Korea that the path to security and respect can be travelled if they meet their obligations.”

Obama’s sweeping statement carries a powerful truth about the future of the world:
"The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world."

Agreed. Not that there aren’t other factors and important relationships, etc. but how the U.S. and China get along or do not get along will have a major impact on the future of the world.

The economic crisis and how it plays out between the U.S. and China continues to be a major issue. With the U.S. projecting close to a $2 Trillion deficit this year and China’s exports falling, there is a lot at stake for the rest of the world between the two economic superpowers

It’s a twisted economic web, where each country needs the other. China owns around $800 Million in U.S. debt, but China needs the U.S. to continue buying goods to keep its people employed.

"So the jobs that China gets out of it are more important than the debt purchases that the US gets out of it," said Derek Scissors, research fellow for Asia Economic Policy at the Heritage Foundation.

"We are actually all in the same big boat that has been hit by fierce and huge waves," said Dai Bingguo, a Chinese state councilor. He added that China and the United States must "try to cross the stormy water together as passengers."

Well, we’ll see if Obama is up for talking about China as a partner in the boat across the ocean that is the economic crisis. There are also waves of human rights,