The Hill News

We are today less than a week away from an important State visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
 
More than two decades ago, on my first trip to mainland China, I could not imagine that the U.S.-China relationship would eventually become so consequential.  
 
Nor could I have imagined a scene like we witnessed a few days ago: Defense Secretary Gates joining together with his Chinese counterpart to stress the need for stronger military ties between China and the United States.
 
In 1989, I came in from Shanghai’s airport on a rickety, Russian-made bus, and stepped into that city’s dimly lit streets into a world very different than the one I left in the U.S.
 
There were swarms of bicycles â€" young men with their dates balanced on handlebars, grandparents pedaling to the market, boys and girls with white-knuckle grips on their parents’ shoulders. Bikes everywhere.  
 
Shanghai then was a gritty, industrial! city filled with low-rise buildings. 
 
There were no skyscrapers. Few cars.
 
There was little sign of what was to come.

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