Perfect Harmony

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's scheduled visit to China on Sunday signaled a remarkably even keel in relations between Washington and Beijing. In almost every recent American presidential-election campaign, China has been an issue. Richard Nixon won re-election in 1972 nine months after his landmark visit to Beijing. In 1992, Bill Clinton accused George H.W. Bush of coddling the Chinese leadership after the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square.

Not this year. Though John Kerry has criticized the Administration for its economic policies toward China, he and George W. Bush agree that sound relations with Beijing are...

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