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propaganda vs credit...
Barack Obama used his first day in China to offer a carefully worded critique of Beijing's record on freedom of speech, telling an audience of students that it was good for leaders to be forced "to hear opinions that [they] don't want to hear".
But by the end of the day that pointed message had been wrapped in a deferential approach apparently designed to avoid any serious clash with America's largest foreign creditor.
Mr Obama, on his first trip to Asia as US President, spent the evening in one of the great bastions of contemporary Chinese power, eating dinner with Hu Jintao – who had described the student meeting as "lively" – at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
- By Gus Leonisky at 17 Nov 2009 - 11:18am
- Gus Leonisky's blog
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forbidden internet...
"We do not seek to contain China's rise. On the contrary, we welcome China as a strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations," said Mr Obama. The US leader is likely to continue to take pains to foster good relations on a trip to the ancient Forbidden City in Beijing today.
Still, his words at the "town hall" style question and answer session with students in Shanghai included comments that were unmistakably critical of the Chinese government: politely, but firmly, defending calls for greater freedoms, and in particular with regard to the internet. China employs some of the world's tightest controls over the 250 million of its citizens who are internet users. Indeed, online news stories about Mr Obama's comments were quickly deleted.
veneered and polished...
BEIJING — President Obama made a big effort Tuesday at presenting his first visit to China as a step forward in America’s evolving relationship with its fastest rising competitor. But what emerged after six hours of meetings, two dinners, and a stilted 30-minute presentation to the press in which Chinese President Hu Jintao would not allow questions, was a picture of a China more willing to say no to the United States.
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