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Xi state visit


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I read a lot of coverage in the NY Times and the Washington Post. Seattle Times covered the d & p show in Seattle.

 

In part it was the Pope but then it was Boehner's resignation (which he saved for after the Pope left). I am not sure the journalists/pundits took his visit or his words very seriously so it was not a historic visit in any way (I mean, seems every statement that was issued was followed by something like "actions will speak louder than words").

 

You could say "bad timing" because China is neither peaking or rising right now. So the visit was not the crowning event for 2015 as Xi might have hoped.

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I think the CPC had intended to orchestrate something much more than how it turned out, partly due to the timing in China's "ascendant" economy, and partly due to other features in the news.

 

I read an article about the timing, but don't remember where I saw it. I think the Communist media simply continued with their plan of coverage all along.

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from the SCMP, in Hong Kong

 

With the American media distracted by other events, Xi Jinping gets a lesson in US politics

 

On Friday morning, just as US President Barack Obama was welcoming Xi to Washington, US House Speaker John Boehner announced his resignation from Congress.

 

Major American broadcasters that were expected to broadcast live a joint press conference by Xi and Obama at the White House switched to airing Boehner's resignation speech simply because that's what most American people would want to know about.

 

Does that mean Xi was not important enough to get onto the front pages of top US newspapers and occupy prime hours on American TV networks? Not really. It's more because of the very basic political nature of American society, which to a very large extent is still US-centric. That may also explain why American media had to focus more on Boehner than the top leader of the world's No2 economy.

 

. . .

 

I'm not sure if Xi was also surprised by Boehner's resignation, especially when American journalists at the joint press conference asked Obama for comments on Boehner's resignation first, before seeking comments on US-China relations. But it would have given Xi a stark reminder of how different the political systems are in China and America.

 

In China, domestic media tried to make Xi's state visit the world's biggest event of the week, with all kinds of compliments. In the US and many other parts of the world, besides Boehner's resignation, Pope Francis's visit to America dominated media agenda, eclipsing Xi's visit in terms of news coverage.

 

Beijing shouldn't underestimate or overestimate the importance of the fast-growing nation. Beijing should be proud of its economic achievements of the past decade but it should remain humble and be more realistic about its role and image on the world stage.

 

Obama has a lot of problems on his side. So does Xi. Hopefully we can have fewer one-sided stories about America and China.

 

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With the currently low favorability rating of China and the potential for ugly politicizing of Xi's visit, the distraction by the Pope and Boehner stories was probably a good thing.

 

Xi spoke publicly about China's commitment to women which gave Hills an opening to call his comments "hypocritically absurd"; which turned the Chinese "press" on her. Premier Li saying "stay out of our business and judging the situation in China is best left to Chinese women"

 

Only problem with that is when they do, they go to jail.

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Perhaps he (Zuckerberg) could have simply written the request to Xi'x Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/xiusavisit?fref=ts

 

Xi Jinping refused to help name Mark Zuckerberg's unborn child

 

Zuckerberg was seated at the head table with the Obamas, Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the state dinner which was attended by numerous figures from the US tech and media sectors.

 

According to Page Six, Zuckerberg spoke in Mandarin to Xi, asking him whether or not he would do him and his wife the honor of giving his child an honorary Chinese name.

 

Xi reportedly turned down the request to put forward a name for the Facebook founder's unborn baby girl, saying that it would be "too much responsibility." Presumably this must have tempered his ambition to come right out and ask for Facebook to be unblocked.

 

. . .

 

Other guests at the state dinner included Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and and Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.

 

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