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On February 14, President Barack Obama met with visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping. Xi is expected to succeed President Hu Jintao as leader of China’s Communist party in October. He will also become the head of state in March next year.

American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a top conservative think tank in the nation’s capital, held a panel discussion on February 16 to evaluate Xi’s visit –“a visit,” AEI noted in its website, “that took place during a period of marked tension in U.S.-China relations.”

The panelists were: Dan Blumenthal, AEI; Ellen Bork, Foreign Policy Initiative; Michael Mazza, AEI, and Derek Scissors, Heritage Foundation, likewise a leading conservative think tank in the capital.

AEI’s event summary follows. “The panelists covered topics relating to politics, security, economics and human rights, but all participants arrived at the conclusion that the visit itself revealed little about Xi as a future leader of the People's Republic of China.

“Dan Blumenthal explained that the Obama administration should use this visit and the coming months to take advantage of China’s political transition by putting ‘the new leader on notice of our interests’ rather than making obsequious reassurances. Derek Scissors built on that theme by offering suggestions for which policies the U.S. should prioritize in its relationship with China. Scissors advocated for a great emphasis on intellectual property rights and commercial cyber theft and a movement away from the politicized currency issue.

“Finally, Ellen Bork warned that America’s overemphasis on forming relationships with China’s new generation of leaders ‘excludes the Chinese people’ and sidelines human rights issues from our bilateral discourse. She lamented the timing of this visit, citing recent crackdowns on Internet expression and a rise in violence in Tibet.

“Overall, the panel cautioned observers about drawing sweeping conclusions based on Xi’s visit and called for a stronger communication of U.S. interests throughout the U.S.-China bilateral relationship.”