Why not? They have ICBM's, they own several Trillion $ in cash and in US assets, they have a rather large Army... surely you're not suggesting they get the same treatment as Laos???
Why? We have ICBM's, we are a financial key to China's continued financial success and we have a large military... surely you're not suggesting the US must toe the line and not talk with democratically elected leader of a nation we do extensive business with. How far the Chinese have come when they have even anonymous posters afraid of angering them.