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Obama, Hu air divides but seek common ground
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Obama, Hu air divides but seek common ground
AFP - Thursday, January 20
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Obama, Hu air divides but seek common ground
WASHINGTON (AFP) - – US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sparred Wednesday over human rights but smoothed over sharp differences by making an economic and strategic case for working together.
On a long-awaited state visit, Hu made the unusual comment for a Chinese leader that "a lot" remained to be done on freedoms in China, but pointedly did not share Obama's view that basic human rights were "universal."
Trumpets sounded and a 21-gun salute blasted over Washington as Hu arrived at a White House draped with US and Chinese flags, in the most sumptuous pageantry a US president can muster. But tough talking soon ensued.
At a frank press conference, there were few concrete signs the leaders had narrowed gaps on currency, access to markets or strategic issues, despite an earlier announcement of tens of billions of dollars in US export deals.
But both sides promised to seek further cooperation on the world's most pressing issues despite their differences, and Obama welcomed China's rise as a key power and looked forward to an era of "friendly competition."
The president also candidly laid out US differences with China, demanding a level playing field for US firms, said the yuan currency was "undervalued" and encouraged dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives over Tibet.
Obama, under pressure because his successor as Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo is in a Chinese jail, acknowledged that China had a different political system than America, but said he would not shirk from raising rights issues.
"We have some core views as Americans about the universality of certain rights -- freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly -- that we think are very important and that transcend cultures," he said.
"I have been very candid with President Hu about these issues."
Hu at first did not answer a US reporter's question about human rights, but prompted to respond later, said it had not been translated for him, and launched into a detailed defense of China's record.
He said China had made "enormous progress" in human rights, but argued that it was a vast nation with many social and economic development problems, apparently rationalizing US criticisms of its behavior.
"We do believe that we also need to take into account the different national circumstances when it comes to the universal value of human rights," he said.
Obama also said the yuan remained "undervalued" despite recent flexibility from Chinese authorities following claims the currency's value hurt US exports.
He also called for open access to US firms to Chinese markets.
"We want to sell you all kinds of stuff," Obama joked. "We want to sell you planes, we want to sell you cars, we want to sell you software," he said, and thanked Hu for making some assurances on US intellectual property rights.
Earlier, US officials revealed that China would announce a mammoth 45 billion dollars in export deals with Washington, including a purchase of 200 Boeing passenger jets worth an estimated 19 billion dollars.
Highlights of new US trade deals to China
The order will bolster Obama's bid to convince Americans that his ambitious foreign policy can have a domestic payoff in the wake of the deepest economic crisis in decades, as officials said the deals would support 235,000 US jobs.
And as both sides sought to enhance economic ties, Obama hosted a meeting with Hu and top US business leaders, including executives from Microsoft, Motorola, Goldman Sachs, General Electric, Coca Cola, Boeing and HSBC.
Obama said he hoped Beijing and Washington could ease recent trade frictions and break free of "old stereotypes."
Hu was to be honored later on Wednesday with the full pomp of a state dinner -- only Obama's third such occasion.
But in a sign of the political sensitivity of Hu's visit, top members of Congress, including John Boehner, the speaker of the House of Representatives, declined invitations to attend.
Democratic US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid meanwhile branded Hu a "dictator" then withdrew the remark.
Obama also used the press conference to say that both he and Hu wanted North Korea to halt "further provocations," and agreed that total denuclearization of the peninsula was the "paramount goal."
Despite two years of dealing with China, during which high US hopes for ties with Beijing have not been realized, the Obama team still appears to be assessing the potential of the relationship.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who shared a private meal with Hu and Obama on Tuesday night, said Wednesday that it was so far unclear whether China was a US friend or foe.
"The reason we're rolling out the red carpet" for the Chinese leader "is we think we'll be better (able) to answer such a question as we move forward," Clinton told ABC television when asked whether China is a friend or foe.
"My hope is we have a normal relationship," she said.
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