Mr. Xi Goes To Washington—What The US Press is Saying

China’ president visited the USA this past week. Here are some samples of what the U.S. press had to say about the visit.

Expectations low for Obama-Xi state visit

(CNN-Sept. 25, 2015)

Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping will trade platitudes and raise a glass to 40 years of U.S.-China ties at a state dinner on Friday night.

But protocol will not disguise the reality that the relationship between the world’s sole superpower and the rising Asian giant is becoming ever more treacherous, with disagreements over Beijing’s territorial claims in the South and East China Seas, charges of cyberhacking, military tensions, trade rows and human rights recriminations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping Arrives in Washington For U.S. State Visit

(Huffington Post Sept. 24, 2015)

No policy breakthroughs are likely during Xi’s U.S. trip, but the two sides are expected to announce several more modest achievements. Those could include building on the countries’ climate change commitments, progress toward a bilateral investment treatment and new rules to lower the risk of aerial confrontations in the Asia-Pacific region.

President Xi’s Double Talk on Doing Business in China

(New York Times OP-ED Sept. 24, 2015)

Mr. Xi and his officials need to realize that trade and investment has to be a two-way street. Many Chinese firms are trying to expand by acquiring companies, real estate and other assets in the United States and elsewhere. With few exceptions, Western leaders have not tried to limit the growth of Chinese companies. In fact, American and Chinese officials are negotiating a bilateral treaty to encourage more cross-border investment.

But if the Xi government continues to put up roadblocks to foreign companies, China cannot expect the rest of the world to open its doors to more investment without reciprocity.

China’s Xi to get a pomp-heavy U.S. welcome Friday, but maybe not a warm one

(Washington Post Sept. 24, 2015)

President Obama has lavished more personal attention on Chinese President Xi Jinping than on any other world leader over the past several years.

But as Xi makes his first state visit to Washington, the romance is all but dead.

Observers said there is little personal warmth, and even less trust, between Xi and Obama as the White House prepares to roll out the red carpet with a pomp-filled arrival ceremony Friday.

Xi has aggressively sought to expand China’s influence in Asia, and his assertiveness has caught the Obama administration off guard, often making the White House appear indecisive in its responses.

The insecurity underpinning Xi Jinping’s repression

(Washington Post, Opinions September 23, 2015)

This week’s visit to Seattle, the District and New York by Xi Jinping , widely viewed as China’s strongest dictator since Mao Zedong, will give Americans another occasion to take his measure and ponder the many dilemmas of Sino-American relations. Xi arrives fresh from Beijing’s extraordinary Sept. 3 military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II . It was an extravaganza designed to demonstrate to his country and the world not only China’s power but also Xi’s. In the United States, the pomp and circumstance accompanying Xi’s state visit to the White House, the media attention to be given speeches by him and his glamorous wife at the United Nations, and the banquet toasts of business and civic organizations are all likely to enhance his prestige.

Xi Jinping and the real ‘Asia Pivot’

(Politico Magazine, September 23, 2015)

The United States and China appear to be entering a new era of icier relations—including what sometimes seems to be an undeclared cyberwar—that makes it dangerous for either leader to seem too chummy with the other. In Obama’s case that’s especially true during a presidential election season; and in Xi’s it is hard to smile too much at the Americans when jingoistic sentiment in China is strong, some of it ignited by Communist Party “patriotic” propaganda.

Obama and China’s President Xi claim progress on security and climate

(Los Angeles Times, Sept. 25, 2015)

President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping promoted new agreements Friday on cybersecurity and climate that they said could yield breakthroughs for their nations.

The leaders promised to help each other investigate and prevent cyberattacks and pledged not to commit cyberespionage or support the theft of trade secrets.

Xi also announced that China will limit carbon emissions starting in 2017, setting in motion a cap-and-trade program similar to one that Obama pushed for, but has been unable to achieve, in the United States.

“This is progress. But I have to insist that our work is not yet done,” Obama said during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden, Xi standing at a lectern beside him.