Obama, Xi to meet in Beijing amid political and economic strains
When President Obama arrives in Beijing on Monday for his first visit since 2009, Chinese President Xi Jinping will welcome him with all the pomp of a state visit. That evening, fireworks will open a meeting of Asia Pacific leaders.
But there is little to celebrate. In the 18 months since Obama and Xi first met at the Sunnylands resort in California where they ate a meal by celebrity chef Bobby Flay and raised a toast of Chinese liquor China and the United States have confronted each other over Asian security, territorial claims, economic cyberespionage and U.S. opposition to Chinas proposal for a new Asian infrastructure bank.
Beneath those issues lie larger questions of how the United States adjusts to a more prosperous and outward-looking China and whether Chinas rise bumps up against the United States and its allies in the Pacific or whether all nations will benefit.
The atmospherics in Beijing leading up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit could be better. A string of nasty articles about foreign forces has appeared recently on blogs and in the state-run media, coloring the political atmosphere. Barely four weeks ago, at a meeting about the political role of arts and culture, Xi warmly shook hands with anti-American blogger Zhou Xiaoping, whose posting Shattered Dreams in America railed on a greedy and oppressive economic system.
Despite the strains, officials on both sides are working to make this summit a success. Steps to slow climate change a priority for Obama and Chinese alarmed by choking pollution offer the most likely area for progress.
There has been a flurry of preparation recently, including a visit by Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi to Secretary of State John F. Kerrys Boston home and a visit by Obamas chief of staff, John Podesta, and the State Departments top climate negotiator, Todd Stern, to Beijing. National security adviser Susan E. Rice made her first visit to China in September, pressing Xi and other top officials to aid international efforts to combat Ebola and the Islamic State.
And the Obama administration has also been restrained in its comments about the massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, saying only that it hopes issues can be resolved peacefully, without endorsing the goals of the demonstrators.
U.S. officials once hoped that Obama and Xi could establish a personal bond that would make agreement easier. Since Sunnylands, Xi has strengthened his hand in China through an anti-corruption campaign that has sidelined several powerful rivals, while Obamas domestic stature has sagged under the weight of foreign crises and lingering economic discontent even as the economy rebounds.
But both sides still hope they can push forward.
Xi and Chinese might see President Obama not a strong leader in the U.S., because of the midterm election outcome and because of his nice personality, said Chu Shulong, a professor of political science and international affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing. But the Chinese still think he can be a strong leader in foreign policy and relations, especially when he can do little in domestic areas in the next two years.
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Obama, Xi to meet in Beijing amid political and economic strains