China's President Hu Jintao arrives in America on January 18th for a welcome at the White House, full of pomp and pageantry, that American presidents seldom lay on even for the closest of friends. After an unusually rocky year in their relations, both China and the United States hope for respite. But mutual wariness is growing, thanks not least to China's hawkish army. The role in Chinese policymaking of the People's Liberation Army (pla, which includes the navy and air force) is only dimly understood by outsiders. But the pla is clearly far less eager than the civilian leadership to mix with America. It needed persuading to acquiesce to a visit to Beijing by America's defence secretary, Robert Gates, from January 9th to 12th, his first to the country in three years.
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