So he has a vantage point to really speak about the broad sweep of the relationship over the past few decades.

WHITEHOUSE: Via Telephone

So that is always part of our very broad and multifaceted agenda when we speak with the Chinese.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney,

"The new administration must be broad-based with a mandate to speak for a majority of the people of Afghanistan, " said Patten, who is expected to travel later this month to Islamabad for a conference on Afghan reconstruction.

CNN: EU to debate Afghan future