It is not even one month into 2011 and relations between the United States and China are picking up in intensity. Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made a long-awaited trip to China to restart stalled military to military dialogue. That ice-breaking visit was followed by a state visit to the U.S. by Chinese President Hu Jintao, his swan song as he prepared to step down from office and hand over the reins of power to the so-called fifth generation of leadership in China.

While the U.S.-China relationship is crucial in its own right, it is important to see the Hu visit through the lens of China's domestic politics. As in Japan, China's leadership must successfully manage relations with Washington. It is a sometimes difficult balancing act: Beijing must be seen as protecting national prerogatives, without being so assertive as to risk a push back from its host. By all accounts, this trip went off without a hitch.

That is a marked contrast to Mr. Hu's last U.S. visit, in 2006, which was marred by glitches. Then, his host, then President George W. Bush, who disliked the pomp and circumstance of his office, did not offer a state dinner, preferring instead a working lunch. The welcome ceremony was interrupted by a protester from Falun Gong and the wrong national anthem was announced.