President Obama welcomed China’s leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, to the White House Tuesday, a visit that comes as the administration seeks new inroads with the rising economic power even as Republican presidential contenders accuse the president of being soft on the communist nation.
The rare Oval Office visit by the Chinese vice president, expected to take over the Communist Party later this year before assuming the presidency next March, represented a sizing up of sorts for Obama, who remains in a precarious relationship with a partner whose views remain unclear on the verge of arguably the largest transition of power on the global stage.
“We welcome China’s peaceful rise,” Obama said, sitting next to Xi at the White House. “We believe that a strong and prosperous China is one that can help to bring stability and prosperity to the region and to the world.”
But those remarks came as the two nations clash on foreign policy in Syria and Iran and amid U.S. officials’ condemnation of Chinese economic practices and their human rights record. While the leaders met, hundreds of anti-Beijing protesters shouted from beyond the White House gates, lambasting China’s crackdown in Tibet.
Obama sought to demonstrate a willingness to work with China’s heir apparent while maintaining a tough tone as his Republican rivals assail him for not doing enough to halt what they view as rampant currency manipulation by China and the subsequent shifting of American jobs to the Asian superpower.
Tuesday’s talks did not produce any major policy breakthroughs, but analysts said the meeting was mostly about building the framework for a better relationship between the U.S. and a leader who appears more willing to work with the West than Chinese President Hu Jintao.
“A major problem in U.S.-China relations is the issue of distrust over each other’s long-term intentions,” said Kenneth Lieberthal, who directs the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. “And frankly, the nature of the personal chemistry between [Obama and Vice President Xi] could potentially play a significant role in building greater confidence as we move forward. This will be the beginning of establishing their relationship.”
The White House summit was the first meeting between Obama and Xi, who also has scheduled stops at a farm in Iowa and with business leaders in Los Angeles later this week.
“I hope to engage with a broad cross-section of American society during my current visit so as to deepen mutual understanding, expand consensus, strengthen cooperation and deepen the friendship between the Chinese and American people,” Xi said during brief remarks after his meeting with the president.
The schism between the two nations was on full display recently, when China last week joined Russia in vetoing a United Nations resolution against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government for its treatment of protesters.
However, Vice President Biden said the relationship between the two nations is improving, as evidenced by Xi’s visit.
“We are not always going to see eye-to-eye,” he said. “We are not always going to see things exactly the same, but we have very important economic and political concerns that warrant that we work together.”
