US offers welcome to China's next leader

15 Feb 2012, 2:23 pm   -   Source: AAP
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China's likely next leader Xi Jinping has been feted with head-of-state-style honours by US President Barack Obama.

China's likely next leader Xi Jinping has been feted with head-of-state-style honours by President Barack Obama, who has his own sights set on steering US-Beijing ties in a second four-year term.

Obama, seeking re-election in November, met Xi, expected to assume full power as China's top leader next year, in a preview of a possible new era for the world's most crucial 21st-century political and economic relationship.

The two men spoke on Tuesday for an extended Oval Office meeting of 85 minutes, as Xi was shepherded through a full program by US Vice President Joe Biden, and enjoyed the rare honour of a 19-gun salute with booming cannons at the Pentagon.

The welcome, exceedingly rare for a mere vice president, reflected the importance Washington places in its relationship with Beijing, though did not paper over wide differences on economics and geopolitics.

And noisy protests from Tibetan protesters around the White House and the US Chamber of Commerce where Xi gave a speech, reflected thorny human rights questions which have tested Sino-US relations for 40 years.

Obama said that Washington welcomed a "prosperous" China and praised its "extraordinary development over the last two decades", but stressed that rising power for Beijing came with "increased responsibilities."

He also stressed that the United States intended to remain a power in the Asia-Pacific region, following testy exchanges over China's territorial claims in the South China Sea during Obama's trip to Asia in November.

"We want to work with China to make sure that everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system," Obama said alongside a relaxed-looking Xi, as senior aides and translators stood by.

"That includes ensuring that there is a balanced trading flow not only between the United States and China but around the world," Obama said.

He also pledged Washington would "continue to emphasise what we believe is the importance of realising the aspirations and rights of all people".

At a State Department luncheon - more evidence of the US desire to please the protocol-conscious Chinese - Biden sharply criticised China's decision to join Russia in vetoing a UN resolution condemning violence in Syria, as well as Beijing's rights record.

A senior Obama aide later said the president told Xi of his own disappointment with the decision during the Oval Office talks.

Xi touched on the human rights question at the State Department, saying that China has made "tremendous and well-recognised achievements" in the area, but added: "There is always room for improvement."

"We will, in light of China's national conditions, continue to take concrete and effective policies and measures to promote social fairness, justice and harmony and push forward China's course of human rights," Xi said.

US observers will likely see that statement as a restatement of China's conflicting definition of the concept of human rights, and not as a concession to a long-held US position.

The Obama administration has spent months planning the visit by Xi, who is expected to succeed Hu next year and could serve as president for a full decade in which many experts believe that China will grow at breakneck speed.

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