In recent days, Chinese officials have been visiting the US, arranging lucrative business deals to pave the way for a state visit to the White House Thursday by President Hu Jintao. The planned trade talks and the carefully timed Chinese purchases of Boeing planes, Microsoft products, and so-ybeans deserve much attention. But it is the geopolitical factor that makes the US-China relationship the most fraught bilateral pairing.

President Bush and his guest will have to be careful not to exacerbate tensions over Taiwan, US relations with Japan and India, or threats from North Korea and Iran. But what should be obvious about these contentious issues is the degree to which China and the US are becoming dependent on each other’s cooperation. For instance, when Bush agreed to sell India nuclear technology, he was not only violating the NPT but also confirming Beijing’s suspicions of a US intention to limit China’s influence in Asia.

A key priority for Bush in his talks with Hu Jintao should be to obtain China’s cooperation in Iran’s nuclear potentials issue. It would have to be part of a more comprehensive set of understandings — a strategic partnership. But in the same way economic trade has to be a two-way street, geopolitical cooperation has to provide comparable benefits to both partners.