US first lady has 鈥榳onderful day鈥 in Beijing
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PRESIDENT Xi Jinping yesterday met with United States first lady Michelle Obama on the first day of her weeklong visit to China.
The formal meeting, in the company of Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan and Obama’s two daughters and mother, took place in a state guesthouse after the first lady toured a Beijing high school and the former Imperial Palace.
“I cherish my sound working relationship and personal friendship I have established with your husband,” Xi said. “We stay in close touch between phone conversations and correspondence.”
Obama thanked Xi for the warm reception for herself and her family.
“We’ve had a wonderful first day here in China,” she told him.
The meeting was not on the first lady’s official itinerary but was expected.
“It is only logical for President Xi to meet her, because it is a matter of etiquette for the head of the household to meet the guest of his wife,” said Teng Jianqun, director of the American studies department at the China Institute of International Studies. The first lady likely served as a messenger on behalf of President Barack Obama, he said.
Her visit to China is being viewed as a prelude to an upcoming meeting between Xi and President Obama at a nuclear security summit in The Hague, when more thorny issues will be raised.
Mrs Obama also made history by being the first US first lady to visit China independently, Teng said.
Obama told Xi she was focusing on education and student exchanges during her seven-day, three-city visit. Her aides have said she plans to stay away from contentious issues.
Earlier yesterday, Obama met students and tried her hand at Chinese calligraphy at the No. 2 High School Attached to Beijing Normal University in central Beijing. The school has 33 American exchange students, and some of its Chinese students aspire to study in the US.
In a calligraphy class, the first lady practiced writing the Chinese character for “eternal” under the guidance of 16-year-old student Lu Yuhong.
“I’m nervous,” Obama said.
“Don’t be nervous,” Peng replied in English.
Lu said he too was nervous, as well as “very excited.”
“But the first lady was so amicable. She was very approachable,” Lu said.
Peng also picked up a brush and wrote a four-character Chinese aphorism on virtues before presenting it to Obama as a gift.
In another class, students showed the first lady robots they had built, moving the devices with remote controls.
“All the students she met, the Chinese students, spoke English and were able to explain to her in very fluent English what they were doing,” said Tina Tchen, the first lady’s chief of staff. “I think she found that impressive, because it’s something we struggle with in the US, having our kids be able to be fluent in a second language by the time they get to high school.”
Among the exchange students attending the calligraphy class was 17-year-old Audrey Fritz.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” she said of her time in China. “I have learned to be much more independent.”
Later in the morning, Peng went with Obama to the former Imperial Palace in central Beijing. That was to be followed by a private dinner and a performance.
Today, the first lady is due to speak at Peking University and tomorrow is scheduled to visit the Great Wall.
On Monday, her delegation will fly to Xi’an, home to the Terracotta Warriors Museum, before visiting a panda breeding facility outside Chengdu.
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