SHANGHAI — Rights issues took centre stage Monday as U.S. President Barack Obama talked to Chinese students about censorship, freedom of religion and freedom of speech, all topics rarely mentioned in China.
“We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation,” the president told students at a heavily stage-managed town hall meeting. He maintained, however, there are some “universal rights” that all governments should adhere to.
Obama said religious freedom, freedom of expression and political participation “should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China, or any other nation.”
It took a “planted” question that was submitted to the U.S. Embassy website, chosen by a U.S. reporter and asked by the U.S. ambassador to China, to give Obama the opportunity to talk about Internet censorship, a touchy subject that the president was almost obliged to raise during his four-day visit.
The former BlackBerry addict told the students that he didn’t have the “thumbs” to use the popular social network Twitter, which is blocked in China by the so-called “Great Firewall,” but “I’m a big believer in technology and a big believer in openness,” he said.
Obama admitted bad things happen on the Internet, but he said he believed in “non-censorship” because the good outweighs the bad.
“When it comes to the flow of information, I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can call their own government to account,” he said.
Obama opened the town hall meeting with a very casual “nong ho” greeting to the Shanghai students. He cleverly skipped the familiar Mandarin hello, “ni hao,” and spoke the local Shanghainese dialect. It won him a quick round of applause from the students who were attentive and polite but not overly enthusiastic — or exacting.
For a president used to parrying tough questions, the student event was a cakewalk. Two of the six questions were about his Nobel Peace Prize, how he came to win it and if it added to the burden of expectations on him.
He was also asked about whether the U.S. intended to continue selling arms to Taiwan given the recent improvement in cross-straits relations. It was a question that perked up interest in the audience, but he carefully sidestepped answering it.
Another questioner wanted to know whether the U.S. would “respect” the differences between China and the United States.
Obama tactfully replied that “it’s very important for the U.S. not to assume what is good for us is good for you.”
His remarks were full of praise for China and he told the audience “the notion that we must be adversaries is not predestined.”
But he underlined that there are “certain fundamental principles that are universal,” like children’s rights and women’s rights, and all nations are accountable for upholding them.
The students, most dressed in their Sunday best, did not interrupt Obama with applause at any point.
After the session was finished, a netizen using the name Anti wrote of his disappointment: “Except the Internet Freedom Q&A, Obama’s town hall is the most failed one of all.”
Another Twitter user appeared happy enough just to hear the discussion of Internet censorship in response to the one and only pointed question that was lobbed at Obama.
“Philfenghan” wrote: “I will not forget this morning, I heard on my shaky Internet connection a question about our own freedom which only a foreign leader can discuss.”
The town hall meeting with students may end up being the most controversial event Obama has in China. As benign as it turned out, it took days of negotiations between the Americans and the Chinese just to establish the parameters of the simple Q & A session. What finally happened was nowhere near what the president’s handlers had in mind.
It has been widely reported that the White House wanted an event with about 2,000 students from universities across Shanghai. They wanted it to be totally unscripted, with Obama randomly picking the questioners. As well, they wanted it carried live by China’s central broadcaster, the official CCTV.
What it got, is an event with 300 students, who may have been primed by their government on what to ask Obama. Plus, the Americans were given permission to take Internet questions, including one from the U.S. Embassy website.
The session was broadcast on local TV, not the national network, and it was also web streamed in China on Xinhuanet, the website of China’s official wire service.
Obama attended a state dinner in Beijing Monday night offered by President Hu Jintao. The two leaders are slated to begin their substantive discussion Tuesday, dealing with issues ranging from global warming to the economic recovery.