US offers warm welcome to China’s next leader
US: China's likely next leader Xi Jinping was feted with
head-of-state-style honors Tuesday by President Barack Obama, who has
his own sights set on steering US-Beijing ties in a second four-year
term. Obama, seeking reelection in November, met Xi, expected to assume
full power as China's top leader next year, in a preview of a possible
new era for the world's most crucial 21st-century political and economic
relationship.
The two men spoke for an extended Oval Office meeting of 85 minutes,
as Xi was shepherded through a full program by US Vice President Joe
Biden, and enjoyed the rare honor of a 19-gun salute with booming
cannons at the Pentagon.
The welcome, exceedingly rare for a mere vice president, reflected
the importance Washington places in its relationship with Beijing,
though did not paper over wide differences on economics and geopolitics.
And noisy protests from Tibetan protestors around the White House and
the US Chamber of Commerce where Xi gave a speech, reflected thorny
human rights questions which have tested Sino-US relations for 40 years.
Obama said that Washington welcomed a “prosperous” China and praised
its “extraordinary development over the last two decades,” but stressed
that rising power for Beijing came with “increased responsibilities.” He
also stressed that the United States intended to remain a power in the
Asia-Pacific region, following testy exchanges over China's territorial
claims in the South China Sea during Obama's trip to Asia in November.
“We want to work with China to make sure that everybody is working by
the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system,”
Obama said alongside a relaxed-looking Xi, as senior aides and
translators stood by.
“That includes ensuring that there is a balanced trading flow not
only between the United States and China but around the world,” Obama
said.
He also pledged Washington would “continue to emphasize what we
believe is the importance of realizing the aspirations and rights of all
people.” At a State Department luncheon -- more evidence of the US
desire to please the protocol-conscious Chinese --Biden sharply
criticized China's decision to join Russia in vetoing a UN resolution
condemning violence in Syria, as well as Beijing's rights record.
A senior Obama aide later said the president told Xi of his own
disappointment with the decision during the Oval Office talks.
Xi touched on the human rights question at the State Department,
saying that China has made “tremendous and well-recognized achievements”
in the area, but added: “There is always room for improvement.” “We
will, in light of China's national conditions, continue to take concrete
and effective policies and measures to promote social fairness, justice
and harmony and push forward China's course of human rights,” Xi said.
US observers will likely see that statement as a restatement of
China's conflicting definition of the concept of human rights, and not
as a concession to a long-held US position.
The Obama administration has spent months planning the visit by Xi,
who is expected to succeed Hu next year and could serve as president for
a full decade in which many experts believe that China will grow at
breakneck speed.
But China is already in the firing line ahead of US elections in
November, particularly on economic issues.
AFP
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