Channel NewsAsia spoke to Jia Qingguo from the Peking University, Department of International Relations who discusses how the attack has changed the relations between the US and China.

Beijing has been supporting the US in the fight against terrorism and in response, the US has begun to say things which sound a bit more pleasant. They used to describe China as a strategic competitor, but no longer.

US foreign policy is now focused on fighting terrorism so the pressure that it used to exert on China isn't as great as in the past. This will allow China to cooperate further with the US and adopt more flexible policies. This will in turn make it even easier in Washington, especially among the US public, to realise that China is a country which the US can work with. This will benefit relations between the two sides.

After September 11, some right-wingers in the US say China will not support the US. But they were wrong. The Chinese government indeed supported the US. Then others said Beijing had ulterior motives such as wanting US concessions on the Taiwan question and the seperatists issue in Xinjiang. But the Chinese government hadn't raised these issues at all. Rather, it believes that terrorism is the scourge of all mankind, and Beijing should provide unconditional help. Of course, at the end of the day, China does hope that Washington will adopt a fairer and more sympathetic approach towards the Taiwan and Xinjiang seperatist issue.