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**Written by Doug Powers

Looking at this from a standpoint of optimism, the odds of Chen Guangcheng being harmed in a cookstove accident may have just gone down dramatically.

From CNS News:

China has agreed to join the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, after touring a cookstove exhibit with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing on Thursday.

It’s one of several new U.S.-China “eco-partnerships” announced during Clinton’s visit, which has been overshadowed by human rights concerns involving blind dissident Chen Guangcheng.

“This illustrates once again that the United States and China can and will work together in new ways and through many channels to address our common challenges on energy and the environment, two issues that transcend politics,” Clinton said at a ceremony marking the cookstove agreement. She did not address the Chen situation in her remarks.

Clinton launched the Global Alliance, a public-private partnership, two years ago. The stated goal is to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women and combat climate change by bringing “clean and efficient cooking solutions” to families around the world. The total U.S. commitment to the cookstove project so far is $105 million.

Hillary handed the Russians the “re-set” button, and this week she got China to push the “pre-heat” button. A US Secretary of State hasn’t delivered a more impactful diplomatic coup with a communist country since 1978, when Cyrus Vance convinced Bulgaria to join the International Catalytic Converter Initiative.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s plane has left China, sans Chen Guangcheng.

(h/t Weasel Zippers)

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe