The incident in which a US spy plane was forced to land on the Chinese island of Hainan comes at a crucial time in the development of relations between Beijing and the new administration in Washington. It is a matter which, if not defused quickly, could cause long-term damage.
The NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and the Bush administration's plans for a National Missile Defence system (NMD), have led to increased tension with Beijing in recent years. Washington's decision to change its definition of China from that of a "strategic partner", as it was classified under President Clinton, to that of "strategic competitor" under President Bush has irked China further.
There have been indications that Chinese aircraft have recently become more active in intercepting US spy planes near its airspace. These and other indicators point to the probability that China has decided to put Mr Bush's regional intentions to the test. The recent visit to Washington by Deputy Prime Minister Qian Qichen was mainly concerned with estimating the extent of the new administration's commitment on arms exports to Taiwan - and its commitment to human rights in the region was put into the spotlight by the recent arrest of the Chinese-American academics, Li Shaomin and Gao Zhan.
The spy-plane incident has taken place, therefore, at an important stage in the relationship between the US as the remaining superpower and China as an emerging economic giant which also has considerable military clout. On a humanitarian basis the crew of the plane should be released without delay but the American claim that its plane has extra-territorial status similar to that of an embassy is open to question. It is, after all, on Chinese soil and the Chinese authorities are adamant that they can do what they wish with the aircraft while it is on their own territory.
The plane is understood to carry extremely sophisticated intelligence-gathering equipment which the US does not want to fall into the hands of Chinese experts. It would seem likely, however, that the crew under such circumstances would have had instructions to put such equipment beyond use and would have had time to put those orders into practice.
Mr Bush and his new administration now find themselves in difficulties in a number of key areas in the foreign policy sphere. As well as their deepening difficulties with China they face repercussions from Moscow after their decision to implement a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats from Washington.
Relations with western allies have cooled considerably after Mr Bush's decision to renege on the US commitments under the Kyoto protocol on global warming. An EU delegation is currently in Washington to seek clarification on the administration's intentions and prominent personalities from the US and elsewhere have been severely critical of Mr Bush in an open letter on this issue.
The Hainan incident has placed China, for the time being, as the most urgent and immediate priority among US foreign policy issues. It is clearly in the interests of both sides to prevent the current coolness descending into outright hostility. After that has been achieved, the US will have a growing list of international difficulties to attend to.