Obama Wraps Up Four Days in China

President Obama wrapped up his four-day visit to China on Wednesday.
Hed struck a conciliatory tone with Chinese leader Hu Jintao. Its something analysts say reflects a shift in power relations between the two nations—as economic ties bring them closer.

Obama emerged from the trip with no breakthroughs or concessions from China on key issues like Chinas currency or Irans nuclear enrichment.

On human rights, Obama said almost nothing publicly. But Jeff Bader from the presidents National Security Council said Obama engaged in a frank discussion on the topic with Hu Jintao in private.

In a development thats said to have frustrated his staff, Obamas public appearances were tightly stage-managed by Chinese authorities. When he visited the Forbidden City, all tourists were cleared out. When he spoke at a news conference alongside Hu Jintao on Tuesday, both men read from prepared scripts and did not answer questions from the media.

A highlight of Obamas trip may have been his town hall style meeting with Chinese youth on Monday. Obama answered a question there about Internet freedom. Without directly criticizing the Chinese regimes pervasive censorship and surveillance, he called for greater Internet freedom, and said that Twitter should not be blocked. His response, however, was itself censored and downplayed by many Chinese media. Some popular web portals that had run stories about the remarks pulled them offline half an hour later.

Obama made at least some impact on the Chinese public, though, as soon as he got off the plane in Shanghai: He was carrying his own umbrella. That impressed many Chinese, who are used to seeing their political leaders with an underling holding their umbrella for them. One Chinese online commentator suggested: Why dont we learn from U.S. President Obamas spirit of umbrella-holding?

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