US reaction to President Clinton's China visit is generally favourable, Sean Cronin writes from Washington. There have been no major mis-steps. Before he left, Mr Clinton said he wanted better relations with a country that might determine the shape of the 21st century. He seems to have established that.
The pomp and ceremony of the presidential visit to a country Americans see as a mixture of the mysterious and the fabulous should help offset the negative news reporting of Mr Clinton since last February when the Monica Lewinsky story broke.
The Wall Street Journal's hardline conservative editorial page started off with a warning as the President set out for China. "We hope that whoever is making the big decisions in China at the moment doesn't confuse the retinue arriving in Beijing with the institution of the American presidency. Any such misapprehension on the part of the Chinese could lead to misjudgments about the political will of the nation that is paying them the honour of this visit, in the person of President Bill Clinton."
Television resurrected an interview with the late Richard Nixon on what his opening of China to the United States - his great achievement - meant. Mr Nixon had no doubt of its meaning. "It changed the world," he said.
One comment about the current visit is that the White House hopes it will be remembered as the high point of the Clinton presidency.
Mr Clinton has been in trouble over US-China relations and the number of Chinese involved in illegal contributions to his re-election campaign in 1996, when characters like Charlie Tree had access to the White House and to Mr Clinton.
The President hopes his trip will change US opinion on China, particularly questions of human rights and the practice of religion. It is being pointed out by the White House that through Mr Clinton the Chinese people heard a version other than the official one of the massacre in Tiananmen Square nine years ago. "Reactions to this have been stunning," the White House said.
A US Congresswoman, Ms Nancy Pelosi, of San Francisco, who represents the largest Chinese community in America, said: "The message is the visit."
Some Chinese student leaders exiled since the Tiananmen Square massacre nine years ago say Mr Clinton's visit will help peace and democracy and is good for China and the United States. Other student leaders disagree.