SHANGHAI — President Barack Obama told Chinese students
Monday that the U.S. does not wish to contain China’s rise, but also offered a
gentle critique of their country’s approach to human rights.
“We welcome China as a strong and prosperous and
successful member of the community of nations,” Obama said at the start of
a town hall-style meeting in Shanghai as he began the China leg of his tour of
Asia.
Obama acknowledged that the United States has struggled with
race relations over the course of its history, but he said America would
“always speak out” in favor of free expression, worship, political
participation and access to information — which he termed “universal
rights.” “They should be available to all people, including ethnic
and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any
nation,” he said.
After his opening remarks, Obama began taking questions,
leaving the podium to make better eye contact with students. As is his custom
at such meetings in the United States, he made a point of alternating between
male and female questioners. Students sat all around him. At the back of the
hall were large American and Chinese flags.
The meeting was an unusual exercise in U.S.-style
participatory democracy for China. It would be unheard of for Chinese students
to speak with their own president, Hu Jintao, in such an informal setting. Some
of the questions posed, such as those about Obama’s wife and family, would be
strictly off-limits.
The White House pushed to have the event broadcast live over
Chinese television, but Beijing resisted, allowing live coverage only on
Shanghai television. Anyone in China with an Internet connection, however,
could watch by logging onto the White House Web site, where it was streamed
live, U.S. officials said.
Apart from questions posed by students, Obama also took
questions submitted via the Internet.
More than 400 students from eight Shanghai universities
attended the event, held at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum.
Students who wanted to see Obama and possibly ask him a question had to submit
applications through their universities.
As they filed in, neatly dressed and carrying notepads and
pens, some of the students said they were excited and had spent days preparing.
They looked to be in their early 20s. One smiled at the press corps and flashed
the peace sign.
After the town hall, Obama was to fly to Beijing for a meeting
with Hu, the Chinese president. Obama was on the fourth day of a weeklong trip
to Asia. He has already visited Singapore and Japan. When he leaves China he
will head to the South Korean capital, Seoul, before returning home Nov. 19.
Among students, shopkeepers and Internet users, Obama’s
visit to Shanghai has been one of the most anticipated by a foreign leader to
China in recent years.
“I have a very good impression of Obama,” said
Shanghai resident Jiang Heting, 21. “Even though I’ve read that some Americans
disapprove of how he’s handling the economic crisis, I still like him very
much.”
They also recognize China’s growing power and influence on
the international stage.
“This is the first time that China and America will
talk as equals,” said Zhang Shun, a student at East China University of
Political Science and Law.
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
