heralded the benefits of globalisation on a visit to Shanghai Thursday but the Chinese media drew a veil of silence over his trip as tensions in the US-China relationship continue to simmer. Clinton was in Shanghai to address the Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia investment forum and spoke about the need to work towards greater globalisation and alleviate poverty in Third World countries, AFP reported.
The former president touched on the need for partnership between Beijing and Washington.
He said that the US had managed to overcome the difficulties caused by the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and that the US should not make China an adversary.
"If we think it's important to have adversaries we will find one and if we think it's important to build an independent world we have a pretty good chance of doing that," he said.
However the bulk of Clinton's speech covered broader health and poverty issues and he spoke at length about the AIDS epidemic ravaging Africa.
Strains in the US-China relationship have prompted the Chinese leadership to throw a news blackout over Clinton's visit with no coverage of Clinton's arrival in the country in the Chinese media.
Few people on Shanghai's streets knew the former US president had touched down on the mainland.
"It's really exciting that he's in Shanghai but I didn't know. There was nothing on the news," said Wang Minghua, a 23-year-old beautician.
Clinton's talks with President Jiang Zemin in Hong Kong Wednesday were also played down in the Chinese media, which carried no pictures of the event and only a few lines saying the meeting had taken place.
Clinton is due to leave Shanghai on Friday.
