When U.S. President Barack Obama starts his first-ever visit to China on Sunday, he will ask Beijing to take more responsibility for solving key global issues in troubled countries such as North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Recently, China has contributed resources to multilateral anti-piracy operations in Somalia and provided substantial personnel to U.N. peacekeeping missions -- both welcome steps. But the number and variety of requests now deluging Beijing has made it increasingly selective in accommodating them. To address the situation in problem countries, Washington needs to take into account that China will always be more assertive about pursuing its own interests, which often differ substantially from those of Washington.
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