US President Barack Obama may ditch his sole meeting with the Chinese public on his maiden trip to China because Washington and Beijing have yet to agree on the terms of the event, days ahead of his arrival.
It is understood that the US initially wanted an unscripted, “town hall” style meeting in Shanghai of about 1,000 young people, mostly Chinese students, to be broadcast live on television or streamed direct on Web portals.
DIALOGUE
In a White House briefing on the Asia trip on Monday, Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, told journalists: “We will be having an event where the president will have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with Chinese youth, where he’ll have the opportunity both to speak to them and also to take some questions and hear directly from young Chinese.”
Questioned on the details, including how participants would be chosen and whether the meeting would be broadcast, he said: “We’re still working out some of the details that are related to that event ... Obviously the president would appreciate the opportunity to reach the broadest possible audience. That’s always a priority of his.”
UNCLEAR
But it has since emerged that the US is still unclear whether the event can go ahead on terms it considers satisfactory. A source with knowledge of the issue said that if it does, it is thought a maximum of 600 people would participate.
Ditching the event would be embarrassing to both sides. It is common for visiting leaders and other politicians to deliver speeches at Chinese universities and take questions afterwards, and hold other meetings with young people.
In reality, participants in such meetings are carefully vetted by the Chinese authorities and fully briefed on the questions they should ask. But Chinese officials may be anxious at the size of the audience the US sought and the unscripted nature of the event combined with the live aspect.
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