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Obama pushes freedoms, open Internet in China

By Jennifer Loven

US President Barack Obama talks greets his audience following a town hall meeting at the Museum of Science and Technology in Shanghai, on 16 November 2009. The US leader, on the third leg of his debut tour of Asia, is to make brief remarks to an audience described by the White House as ‘future Chinese leaders.’ Obama enjoys great popularity in China, especially among the youth in the world’s most populous nation of 1.3 billion people.AFP/Getty Images/Saul Loeb/China

Politely but firmly pressing for greater freedoms on China’s own turf, President Barack Obama spoke against censorship Monday, saying tough criticisms of political leaders should be allowed and the free flow of information on the Internet “should be encouraged.”

Opening his first-ever visit to China, a critically important US partner on economic and security matters, Obama said crucial problems cannot be solved unless the world’s only superpower and its rising competitor work together. “More is gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide,” he said.

But on a visit that had him wading into sensitive territory with his tightly controlled host country, Obama also openly prodded Beijing to accept what he called “universal rights.”

“We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation,” Obama said at a town hall with Chinese university students, believed to be the most extensive such forum held by a US president on Chinese soil. But, he said, such things as freedom of expression and worship, unfettered access to information and unrestricted political participation “should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation.”

He took eight questions, half from audience members and half from among the hundreds submitted over the Internet, in a session that the White House negotiated with the Chinese government up to the last minute. Obama spoke at the most length, and in the most animated terms near the end, when answering a question about China’s firewall that blocks access to many Internet sites.

“I’m a big supporter of non-censorship,” Obama said. “I recognise that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged.”

Given where Obama was speaking, such a comment was pointed. And he appeared to be talking directly to China’s leaders when he said that he believes free discussion, including criticism that may be annoying to him, makes him “a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don’t want to hear.”

China has more than 250 million Internet users and employs some of the world’s tightest controls over what they see. The country is often criticised for having the so-called “Great Firewall of China,” which refers to technology designed to prevent unwanted traffic from entering or leaving a network.

Obama’s town hall was not broadcast live across China on television. It was shown on local Shanghai TV and streamed online on two big national Internet portals, but the quality was choppy and hard to hear.

US ambassador Jon Huntsman called Obama’s event the first ever town-hall meeting held by a US president in China. Yet former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush also spoke to students and took questions from them during stops in China.

With a smile, Obama said he has never used the popular social networking site Twitter. But he broadly defended unrestricted Internet access as “a source of strength.” And he said the free flow of information, including criticisms of his presidency, has helped by forcing him to consider other opinions.

The town hall was considered a signature event of Obama’s weeklong trip to Asia. He was to end his day in Beijing in meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

China is a huge and lucrative market for American goods and services, and yet it has a giant trade surplus with the US that, like a raft of other economic issues, is a bone of contention between the two governments. The two militaries have increased their contacts, but clashes still happen and the US remains worried about a dramatic buildup in what is already the largest standing army in the world.

Amid all that, Obama has adopted a pragmatic approach that stresses the positive, sometimes earning him criticism for being too soft on Beijing, particularly in the area of human rights abuses and what the US regards as an undervalued Chinese currency that disadvantages US products.

At the town hall, one student asked him about the honour and burden of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. He said he is a symbol of the shift in world affairs that his administration is trying to promote, but reiterated that he didn’t think he had deserved the award.

Obama said there are few global challenges that can be solved unless the US and China cooperate.

As nations prepare for next month’s climate change conference in Copenhagen, Obama said leaders will be watching what the US and China do. He says “that is the burden of leadership that both of our countries now carry.”

The two nations are working together more than ever on battling global warming, but they still differ deeply over hard targets for reductions in the greenhouse-gas emissions that cause it. China has supported sterner sanctions to halt North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, but it still balks at getting more aggressive about reining in Iran’s uranium enrichment.

Obama recognises that a rising China, as the world’s third-largest economy on the way to becoming the second and the largest foreign holder of US debt, has shifted the dynamic more toward one of equals. For instance, Chinese questions about how Washington spending policies will affect the already soaring US deficit and the safety of Chinese investments now must be answered by Washington.

One closely watched test of the line Obama is walking on China will be how he addresses human rights, including religious freedom in the officially atheist nation. Aides said in advance that Obama would raise several human rights issues privately with Chinese leaders, including President Hu.

The White House hoped Monday’s town hall meeting with Chinese university students would allow Obama to telegraph US values — through its successes and failures — to the widest Chinese audience possible.

But those hopes had their limits in communist-ruled China.

Obama’s China visit features the only sightseeing of his high-intensity Asian journey. He will visit the Forbidden City, home of former emperors in Beijing, and the centuries-old Great Wall outside of the city. Visiting a country’s noted landmarks is considered a sign of respect in the world of diplomacy. But Obama aides also have learned that finding some tourist time serves to both calm and energise their boss amid the always gruelling schedule of a foreign trip.

Copyright © 2009 AP

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