BEIJING – Who knew that Twitter – banned in this country of 1.3 billion people – could spark such a lively exchange between the President of the United States and a group of young Chinese students?
It happened in Shanghai today, where President Obama held a town hall with what the White House called “future Chinese leaders.” The President happened to take a question – ironically via the internet – that asked “Should we be able to use Twitter freely?” (Facebook is also off-limits here).
Photo: Paul Brandus/TRNS
Obama began with a joke: “Well first off, let me say that I have never used Twitter. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone.”
But then the President got serious: “I should be honest, as president of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn’t flow so freely because then I wouldn’t have to listen to people criticizing me all the time,” he said. But, Obama added, “because in the United States, information is free, and I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me, I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don’t want to hear.”
Revealing yes, but more importantly, the President’s words appeared to have a broader meaning: China itself, he seemed to be saying, should also open up and allow its citizens to communicate freely, even if they’re saying things their leaders don’t want to hear. But those leaders, the same men Obama broke bread with here tonight, lack the President’s confidence, choosing not to broadcast his appearance on national TV, though it did run locally in Shanghai.
What will China’s leaders hear from Obama himself? Probably little, if anything at all, on the one issue sure to irritate them: human rights. The administration appears to have decided that badgering Beijing on Tibet and Xinjiang – the site of bloody crackdowns over the past two years – isn’t as important to the President’s long-term agenda as North Korea and Iran, where Obama needs Chinese support in the U.N. and elsewhere (likely in the former instance, unlikely in the latter) and global warming. Then there’s the issue that hits Obama right in the wallet: his administration’s need for China to keep propping up the U.S. economy by buying our debt. China already owns an estimated $800 billion of U.S. Treasury securities, and is so nervous about their safety, that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton actually had to reassure them earlier this year that those securities, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, were secure. Astonishing.
So don’t look for President Obama to say too much about Tibet or Xinjiang. As a footnote to this discussion: There are some here, by the way, who would quickly point to Abu Gharib and claim, that despite a new administration, America has no business lecturing anyone on human rights.
Looking ahead, on Tuesday, the President will be formally welcomed to China by President Hu Jintao with a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People. They’ll speak to reporters and after that Obama tours the Forbidden City and greets employees at the sprawling U.S. Embassy. In the evening: a state dinner with Hu.