The following are editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers

China Daily, Beijing, –on US-China trade deficit

US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke's recent comments that the US will boost exports to China to reduce its trade deficit was the right step toward easing the intensifying trade tension between the two nations.

It's a pragmatic approach to a worrisome bilateral trade. Instead of unilaterally accusing China of not appreciating its currency or employing anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese products, the remarks signal a positive strategy by the US. Locke told China Daily in an e-mail interview that his visit to China this month will focus on promoting US exports of new energy technologies, such as clean energy and energy efficiency.

According to the US Department of Energy, Energy Secretary Steven Chu will also travel to China later in May to discuss the clean energy sector. The high-level visits show that Washington is more willing to work with Beijing in the new- and clean-energy sectors.

If the two nations can work together on clean energy, it could break the stalemate in bilateral trade.

China wants to invest heavily in clean energy. As the largest developing country, the nation's energy strategy aligns with its goal of a low-carbon economy. But it badly needs the technological know-how from developed countries to make that happen. The US, on the other hand, will create more jobs by transferring its clean-energy technology to China. This will eventually reduce trade deficits and help the U.S. economy recover.

Furthermore, if the two nations can work together on clean energy and energy efficiency, it will help the international crusade to reduce poverty and tackle climate change.

The Daily Telegraph, London, –on an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement

A flurry of diplomatic activity heralds yet another attempt to resolve one of the world's most intractable problems, the absence of an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. Recently, Benjamin Netanyahu was in Sharm-el-Sheikh for talks with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president. The Arab League gave its backing to American mediation between the two sides as a prelude to direct negotiations. The Palestinian Liberation Organization is expected to follow suit. And George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, is due to begin meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders soon.

The attempt to revive a moribund process reflects a new dynamism in American foreign policy following the passage of health care reform through Congress, Obama's foremost domestic challenge. Obama has spoken about the absence of a settlement costing America blood and treasure in Afghanistan and Iraq. There has also been talk of his calling an international summit if peace negotiations founder, raising the possibility that he might seek to impose a settlement.

Neither the linking of American security with the Palestinian problem nor the threat to project it into a wider forum will be music to Israeli ears. Renewed pressure from Washington will have to be maintained over the coming months, in particular over the concession seemingly made by the Israeli government that settlement building in East Jerusalem will be suspended.

On the one hand, Mitchell has to deal with the Likud and Yisrael Beitenu hardliners, on the other with a Palestinian entity split down the middle between Fatah and Hamas. Success looks unlikely. But the failure to create a Palestinian state is poisoning the relationship between the Islamic world and the West. It is not a problem that America and its allies can safely ignore.The following are editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers