US President Barack Obama defies low expectations for visit to China
Expectations were low when US President Barack Obama started his China trip on Monday, less than a week after Democrats were trounced in the midterm elections.
Expectations were low when US President Barack Obama started his China trip on Monday, less than a week after Democrats were trounced in the midterm elections. "Lame duck swims to Asia" was the headline the Washington political news website Politico put on the story.
Yet upon his departure from Beijing on Wednesday, Obama could claim some trophies from his visit. He'd landed several agreements with his hosts, including a first-ever commitment by China to control its greenhouse gas emissions.
"I would describe this as the most successful multilateral summit of his presidency," said Aaron Connelly, a research fellow in the East Asia programme of the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Australia. He said it was impressive that the White House had been able to nail down some deals late in Obama's visit, as opposed to having concluded them days or weeks earlier.
Other analysts were less effusive, noting tensions were still on display between the world's two most powerful countries, most publicly during a news conference on Wednesday by Obama and President Xi Jinping . Even so, some agreed the meeting had defied expectations.
"From the standpoint of US-China relations, President Obama's trip to Beijing has gone better than expected," said Don Emmerson, the head of the Southeast Asia programme at Stanford University.
Emmerson called it significant that, aside from the climate pact, the sides could reach agreement on lowering global tariffs on hi-tech products, lessening the chance of escalation during encounters between their militaries and lengthening visas for Americans and Chinese travelling to each other's countries.
"'Declaration' is not 'implementation', but these are encouraging signs of a welcomed willingness on both sides to work together," Emmerson said. He added that he would be watching to see whether "this productive but fragile comity" continues as Obama travels to Australia for the Group of 20 summit of industrial and emerging-market nations.