To which China replied...

...bite me.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick told China on Wednesday it should take concrete steps to assure the world it will use its power responsibly and said Beijing's approach to Iran would prove its seriousness on combating nuclear proliferation.

The ``essential question'' for the United States and the world was ``how will China use its influence'' because the answer would have a profound effect on international development for years to come, he said.

In a speech to the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, which promotes ties between the two countries, Zoellick acknowledged that "many Americans worry that the Chinese dragon will be a firebreather. There is a caldron of anxiety about China.''

China must become a "responsible stakeholder'' in the international system that has enabled its success because ''uncertainties about how China will use its power will lead the United States, and others as well, to hedge relations with China,'' he said.

Noting rising protectionist pressures in America fueled by a huge trade deficit with China, Zoellick said Beijing "cannot take access to the U.S. market for granted.''

"The United States will not be able to sustain an open international economic system -- or domestic U.S. support for such a system -- without greater cooperation from China,'' the former U.S. trade representative said.