US President Barack Obama meets President Hu Jintao Monday, after delivering a sharp public warning to China that its efforts to control its nuclear armed neighbor North Korea are not working.
Obama and Hu will hold talks on the sidelines of a summit dedicated to the threat of nuclear terrorism, and their bid to keep ties stable, despite the turbulence of domestic political drama in both nations, will be put to the test.
With North Korea threatening to launch a rocket next month, Northeast Asia is again on edge, and Obama made clear in unusually direct language in Seoul and Sunday that he did not believe China's approach was bearing fruit.
While sympathising with China's lot in sharing a border with the erratic communist state, Obama suggested it was time for a change in Chinese strategy.
"What I've said to them consistently is rewarding bad behavior, turning a blind eye to deliberate provocations, trying to paper over these not just provocative words but extraordinarily provocative acts that violate international norms — that's not obviously working." Obama said.
"My suggestion to China is, is that how they communicate their concerns to North Korea should probably reflect the fact that the approach they've taken over the last several decades hasn't led to a fundamental shift in North Korea's behavior."
Washington has frequently called on Beijing to do more to control Pyongyang, given its role as one of North Korea's few trading partners, and states with any influence over its despotic leaders.
Hu and Obama will meet at a time when both leaders are increasingly preoccupied by their own domestic political calendars — with a new generation of leaders poised to assume power in China and Obama's quickening re-election bid at home.
Obama must watch his flank as his likely Republican foe Mitt Romney lacerates his policy towards Beijing, seeking to exploit a perception among blue collar voters that unfair Chinese trade practices cost US jobs.
Hu enters the meeting against a backdrop of intrigue ahead of the 18th Communist Party Congress later this year, expected to enshrine Xi Jinping as China's next leader.
Jia Qingguo, professor and associate dean of the School of International Studies of Peking University said Hu and Obama will be preoccupied with "how to maintain stability in the relationship" as the year's politics unfold.
The Hu-Obama summit takes place after China's Communist Party leadership was rocked by a rare scandal, after Bo Xilai, leader of the Chongqing metropolis was sacked after a key aide reportedly tried to defect to the United States.
"I think the summit meeting is very important for both countries, especially on the domestic side, given the election year in the US and the political earthquake surrounding the removal of Bo Xilai," said Zhu Feng, also of Peking University.
"There needs to be an exchange of views on how the bilateral relations can stay the same without too much disruptions over election politics and domestic factors."
Obama and Hu have met multiple times on the sidelines of international summits, to further what both sides say is a desire to work together on vital economic and security issues important to both sides.
But disputes over trade, frank talk over China's territorial spats with its neighbors in the South China Sea, and different views on Syria's crackdown on dissent and Iran's nuclear program have chipped away at mutual trust.
Obama emerged from his last meeting with Hu in Hawaii in November showing clear signs of frustration, saying China must now act like a "grown-up" and play by global trading rules.
This month, Washington signaled that it would lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization over China's curbs on the export of "rare earth" elements which are vital to the US computer and hi-tech industry.
The long-standing disupte over China's yuan currency which Washington says is kept artificially low to boost exports in a manner which hurts the US economy, also has the potential to become an issue before November's election.
While US presidential candidates often lash China, only to fall in line with decades of foreign policy towards Beijing when elected, Obama cannot afford to ignore Romney's assault.
"Romney has set the tone," said Douglas Paal, an Asia specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
"Obama is not going to let Romney get to his right on China."
Despite White House denials, in this environment it is not a stretch to see Obama's shot across China's bows on rare earth exports and his announcement of a new task force to probe Beijing's trade abuses, as politically motivated.
