<PERSON> Meets the Chinese President in Netherlands as the US First Lady Continues Her Soft Diplomacy in China · Global Voices
This week, the <PERSON> are trying their hands at diplomacy with China – from two very different angles.
Screen grab from Youku. <PERSON> met with Chinese President <PERSON> and his wife <PERSON> on March 21.
US First Lady <PERSON> made her maiden trip to mainland China for a bit of “soft diplomacy”, focusing on education and youth empowerment during the weeklong trip to three Chinese cities. Setting aside scheduled meetings with Chinese President <PERSON> and his wife <PERSON>, her travels in China look no different than those of an inquisitive tourist – in Beijing, she practiced traditional Chinese calligraphy, toured the ancient Forbidden City and ascended the Great Wall.
Accompanied by her mother and two daughters, Ms <PERSON>’s China tour is seen by many as a chance to soothe tensions between China and the US. Relations between the two nations have undergone ups and downs in recent years. 871
The US pivot to the Asia Pacific, part of the <PERSON> administration's strategic rebalancing, has kept China on alert.
Meanwhile, China’s increasing military assertiveness in the South China Sea and <PERSON> two meetings with <PERSON>, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, have led the two nations to exchange words of anger towards each other.
While the Chinese audience is inundated this week with reports about Mrs. <PERSON>’s fashion choices and her encounter with China’s first lady, the intended soft diplomacy has been marred by revelations that the US National Security Administration (NSA) breached the internal servers of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
The scoop, based on documents from whistleblower <PERSON> and reported by The New York Times, could overshadow the meeting between US President <PERSON> and Chinese President <PERSON> on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit thousands of miles away in the Netherlands.
In the meantime, the US approach to the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine is not likely to go down well with China, a close ally of Russia. When it comes to its foreign policy, China has long maintained a doctrine of “non-interference” in others’ internal affairs. And Crimea scenario haunts Chinese leadership as they fear the same could happen with its Tibet and Xinjiang region.
Commenting on Chinese popular microblogging site Sina Weibo, <PERSON>, who is head of a company in Shanxi province, used an analogy to describe <PERSON> visit to China:
就是两个老爷们准备谈笔大生意，但是大家都还不知道对方的心理底线，所以让媳妇先打打前站……亲情化作战，值得参考和借鉴！
It’s just like two men getting ready to sign a big business deal. Without knowing each other's psychological bottom line, they sent out their wives to do the warm-up… Tactic of using family ties, something worth learning!
<PERSON>, a former journalist with Beijing Youth Daily, wrote:
米歇尔访华，按照今天白宫的说法，不仅仅是推动两国领导人的关系，而要推动两国人民之间的关系。米歇尔将关注教育，推动中美之间青年之间的教育教育项目。具体的城市是北京–西安–成都。米歇尔将在北京大学演讲，在西安参观兵马俑，在第七高中再进行一场演讲。 49