Working together

saying he was looking forward to continuing to work with his US counterpart on building "constructive cooperative relations." But the warm sentiments were overshadowed by a strongly worded commentary published days earlier in the China Daily. Written by former Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, the article criticized the Bush administration's "cocksuredness and arrogance" and attacked the so-called Bush Doctrine, saying it advocated US rule over the world. China's normally tight control over the media seemed to slip on this occasion, foreign ministry officials moving quickly to smooth any ruffled feathers. An official said the China Daily had republished the article, which had previously appeared in a small circulation party weekly, without the consent of Qian or the central government. Sanctioned or not, there are plenty of potential tripwires that lie ahead in Sino-US relations: disputes over US limits on imports of Chinese garments and textiles, continuing pressure on China to revalue or float its currency and US arms sales to Taiwan head the shortlist.