China-US relationship: President Barack Obama meets with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Tuesday (Wednesday Jakarta time) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP/Susan Walsh)
The man destined to be China's next leader won an extraordinary
welcome across Washington on Tuesday, a finely scripted opening to one of the
world's most important relationships. Trading kind words of cooperation,
President Barack Obama and Xi Jinping also spoke directly about human rights
and worsening foreign crises.
Everything about the day reflected just how much China and the United
States need each other, no matter what their differences, given their economic
and military might and global influence. Xi got a lengthy Oval Office audience
with Obama, an elaborate reception at the State Department, full military
honors at the Pentagon, a gathering with chief business executives and a dinner
at Vice President Joe Biden's house.
At the center of it was a president seeking four more years and the
man expected to lead China for the next decade. Xi, whose full name is
pronounced shee jeen-ping, currently is vice president and is expected to
succeed Hu Jintao as head of China's Communist Party late this year and become
president in 2013.
"I'm sure the American people welcome you," Obama said.
All the symbolism and protocol were intended to pay dividends in the
coming decade and to reciprocate for Biden's warm stay in China last year.
There were no obvious breakthroughs - Xi is not empowered yet, anyway
- but the stature he is set to assume was enough to draw rare attention.
Never before, for example, has the Pentagon heralded a visiting vice
president the way Xi was. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta greeted Xi on the
steps of the Pentagon's River Entrance, facing the Potomac, as U.S. troops held
an honor cordon for Xi. He got a 19-gun salute.
The relationship between the nations is complex. It is strengthened by
their joint need for international stability and economic growth, yet tested by
currency disputes, China's limits on basic human freedoms, trade imbalances and
growing military tensions.
Obama and Xi said they would maintain a relationship based on the
traditional diplomatic speak of mutual interests and respect. They kept their
focus on a diverse and cooperative agenda, although Obama did push China on
human rights and the importance to recognize the "rights of all
people."
In a separate setting, Xi later defended his country's rights records
over the past 30 years but added: "Of course there's always room for
improvement on human rights." His comments at the State Department
luncheon were similar to those made by Hu during a state visit to Washington a
year ago.
Leaders of foreign policy, academics and the business worlds were
invited to see Xi and hear him speak; a string quartet greeted them upon
arrival.
For Xi, the itinerary was carefully negotiated to convey high-level
significance and minimize the chance of making news or, worse, any gaffe.
Neither he nor Obama took questions.
Outside the gates of the White House, a few hundred protesters
marched, waving Tibetan flags and demanding freedom for Tibet. Underscoring the
sensitivity f the rights issues among China's critics, they held signs
proclaiming, "Xi Jinping: Tibet will be free." They shouted
"Stop lying to the world."
Inside the Oval Office, Obama assured Xi: "It is absolutely vital
that we have a strong relationship with China." The visiting leader smiled
and looked at ease in his first formal meeting with the U.S. president.
Xi said that his meetings in Washington, to be followed by stops in
the Iowa heartland and then California, were aimed not just at better political
ties but a deeper friendship with the American people. By the end, he may even
take in a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game, said a smiling Obama, a basketball
fan himself.
Xi is known for being adept at forming personal connections,
particularly in comparison to Hu, who has often appeared stiff and staid around
Obama. In comments at the State Department, Xi cited a couple of old proverbs
and even a Chinese pop song to take his point about the ever-changing US-China
relationship.
This week is essentially one big get-to-know-you tour, from the halls
of power to the farmland of Iowa, which he visited as a lower-ranking
government official in 1985. He will have access to many power brokers while in
Washington, including Cabinet secretaries, leading lawmakers and, most of all,
Biden, his host.
"We are not always going to see eye-to-eye. We are not always
going to see things exactly the same, but we have very important economic and
political concerns that warrant that we work together," Biden said as the
day began with talks in the White House's Roosevelt Room.
The timing comes as the United States remains in dispute with China on
multiple fronts.
Even as Xi was soaking in his welcome, the top U.S. military officer
was pressed at a Senate hearing about alleged Chinese computer hacking. Joint
Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said someone in China was
responsible but he would not blame China's People's Liberation Army for
targeted electronic break-ins of U.S. government and corporate computer
networks.
The United States accuses China of tolerating electronic theft and
industrial espionage, but U.S. officials are reluctant to tie those crimes
directly to the Chinese government. When Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he
would be seeing Xi and asked advice on what to say, Dempsey quipped:
"Happy Valentine's Day."
The U.S. is also deeply at odds with China and Russia for their vetoes
of a tough U.N. Security Council resolution this month that called on Syrian
President Bashar Assad to resign. Washington accuses Beijing of protecting
rogue regimes such as that of Syria, where the bloodshed rages daily.
In Xi's presence, Obama passed on answering a reporter's questions
about Syria.
Privately, however, Obama told Xi he was disappointed with China's
veto of the U.N. Syria effort, said a senior administration official who spoke
on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed meeting. Obama pressed Xi anew
over China's currency, which the U.S. says is undervalued, but praised China
for helping to keep pressure on Iran regarding its disputed nuclear program.
More broadly, China and the U.S. also increasingly are rivals in the
Asia-Pacific region, with Washington's traditional alliances competing with
China's economic and cultural influence. China sees the U.S. as encouraging
skepticism and dissent among neighbors in the region while trying to undermine
communist rule by encouraging civil liberties and human rights causes.
On Iran, China shares U.S. alarm about a possible Iranian nuclear bomb
but has blocked consideration of the toughest international sanctions,
including an international embargo on Iranian oil. China is Iran's largest
customer for oil.
White House spokesman Jay Carney assured that Obama privately brings
up "all of these issues" of concerns with Xi and other Chinese
leaders.
