Xi Jinping and Barack Obama walk down the path of history
Private stroll through former imperial garden gave Xi chance to tell Obama of the road to reform
They were likened more to two scholar friends than the leaders of the world's two most powerful nations during their private stroll through China's centuries-old imperial compound on a chilly autumn night this week.
US President Barack Obama arrived in Beijing on Monday at the invitation of President Xi Jinping for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, as part of a state visit that finished on Wednesday.
Revealing some details of the conversation between Xi and his American guest during their informal summit on Tuesday, which included a private dinner, the said Xi used the occasion to teach Obama something of Chinese history and the ups and downs of China's road to reform.
Implying that the relaxed talk in the grounds of Zhongnanhai was a triumph of diplomacy, the party mouthpiece described how the men were more keen to discuss history, culture and philosophy than the usual diplomatic topics.
Located next to the Forbidden City, Zhongnanhai was once an imperial garden that now serves as the centre of power for the Communist Party and central government. The walled leadership compound is known for its beautiful lakes, trees, fountains and temples.
During the stroll, Xi introduced to Obama to the history of Yingtai, an imperial palace on an island within Zhongnanhai. Xi said one needed to know China's modern history to understand the Chinese people's aspirations and the path they had chosen.
Built in the Ming dynasty, Yingtai is the former residence of several Qing dynasty emperors and has witnessed many historic events. Historical records suggest that the second Qing emperor, Kangxi (1654-1722), made the decision there to recover Taiwan from the Ming loyalists. And the young Qing emperor Guangxu (1871-1908) was imprisoned there by the Empress Dowager Cixi after the failure of his Reform Movement.
Xi briefed Obama on China's modern efforts to deepen reform, advance rule by law and strengthen the ruling party. Obama replied that China and America shared that aspect of their history - that reform nearly always encounters resistance.
According to the Xi gave Obama a lively history lesson. It quoted Obama as saying that the talk enabled him to have "the most comprehensive, in-depth understanding of the history of the Chinese Communist Party and its idea of rule and Xi's thinking".
The report said the topics of conversation probably ranged from history to modern affairs, from culture to politics, from issues of historic implication to that of strategic importance to both nations and the world.
Xi said China would achieve 7 per cent annual economic growth in coming years to realise its goal of doubling the per capita incomes of 2010 within a decade.
Xi briefed Obama about China's views on democracy, human rights and sovereignty. While China would not follow Western-style democracy of "one man, one vote", the government had paid "much more attention than their counterparts in the West to the aspirations of its people". The top priority for the Chinese people, Xi said, was sovereignty, due to the country's history of invasion by foreign powers. The Chinese president added that the people cherished national independence, unity and stability.
The Zhongnanhai walk was designed to reciprocate the informal meeting between the two leaders at the Sunnylands estate in California in June last year.
The one-on-one chat helped promote understanding between the two leaders, said. Despite their efforts to downplay discord, Xi told Obama that they could "agree to disagree" so long as both leaders made the effort to understand and respect each other.
The private meeting lasted nearly five hours, much longer than scheduled, the said, and would be remembered for helping to shape the "new type of great power relationship" between the two.
