Obama plays it softly in criticism of China
President Barack Obama gave a delicate but pointed reminder to China about its poor human rights record at the start of his first visit to the country today.
He nudged its leaders to stop censoring internet access, offering an animated defence of the tool that helped him win the White House and suggesting Beijing need not fear a little criticism.
Mr Obama couched his criticisms with words calling for cooperation, heavy with praise and humility.
"I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable," Mr Obama told students in Shanghai. "They can begin to think for themselves."
He then flew to Beijing where to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao. Trade, climate change and economic issues were expected to dominate.
In brief remarks before their initial talks, Hu noted Mr Obama's meeting with students, calling the session "quite lively".
Mr Obama's message, aside from his proddings on human rights, was clear: Few global challenges can be solved unless the world's only superpower and its rising competitor work together.
During Mr Obama's opening statement to the students in Shanghai, he spoke bluntly about the benefits of individual freedoms in a country known for limiting them.
"We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation," Mr Obama said. Then he added that freedom of expression and worship, unfettered access to information and unrestricted political participation are not unique to the United States; instead, he called them "universal rights".
The line offered echoes of his predecessor George Bush, who often talked of the "universality of freedom".
Mr Obama talked at length about the internet, which he said helped him win the presidency because it allowed for the mobilisation of young people like those in his audience in Shanghai.
"I'm a big supporter of non-censorship," Mr 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 Mr Obama was speaking, such a comment carried strong implications. And he appeared to be talking directly to China's leaders when he said that he believes free discussion, including criticism that he sometimes finds annoying, 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.
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 series of other economic issues, is a bone of contention between the two governments.
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 baulks at getting more aggressive about reining in Iran's uranium enrichment.
Mr Obama recognises that a rising China, as the world's third-largest economy - on its way to becoming the second - and the largest foreign holder of US debt, has shifted the dynamic more toward one of equals.
