Posted by US President Barack Obama’s visit to China ends today (18/11/2009), but without concrete results.
The European press criticises the talks between Obama and the Chinese leader Hu Jintao for failing to bring agreement either on economic questions or climate protection measures.
La Repubblica – Italy
US President Barack Obama has missed the target of his China visit, writes the left-liberal daily La Repubblica. He had aimed to find a way out of the economic crisis with President Hu Jintao but the two powers are clinging to their national interests, the paper notes:
“Between the two superpowers of the global economy there is no consensus on a recipe for overcoming the crisis. Barack Obama and Hu Jintao can’t find a balance between their respective interests. The US won’t agree to lift customs duties … and China won’t bow to pressure to upvalue its currency, the yuan. The success of the entire agenda depended on resolving this stalemate. Consequently the US president has failed to achieve the main goal of his trip to Asia and China. Beijing and Washington are deviating from economic issues and focusing on political ones instead.
… And so the painstaking construction of the G2 continues. But China has sent an unmistakable signal: the new leaders are united out of necessity, but they are not partners.” (18/11/2009)
De Volkskrant – Netherlands
US President Barack Obama has had to exercise caution with his hosts on his visit to China, the daily De Volkskrant comments:
“The Chinese authorities’ somewhat cramped treatment of their American guest shows yet again how much value those in Beijing place in their authoritarian system. That made Obama’s visit a difficult balancing act. The US must take into consideration the changed balance of power in the world and accept that good relations with China are crucial.
… You can’t ask Obama to raise all issues at once – human rights, political freedoms, Tibet, the Uyghurs and Taiwan. We must show understanding for the careful approach he has chosen. But if this strategy fails to pay off, on the long term Obama will have no option but to demand more clearly the rights and freedoms that he rightly considers universal.” (18/11/2009)
Financial Times Deutschland – Germany
Even if the US and China failed to reach an agreement on climate protection it’s important that the two countries at least talk about it, the Financial Times Deutschland writes, because the question “of whether global warming can be restricted to an acceptable level won’t be decided in Copenhagen but in negotiations between China and the US. This is why it is a step forward that the heads of government Hu Jintao and Barack Obama at least spoke out in favour of a basis for a binding agreement at their tête-à-tête summit.
… Although the US has generated the largest amounts of greenhouse gases so far, making the world’s impatience for it to reach internal agreement about climate legislation understandable, in the future it will be the emerging nations who produce the bulk of emissions, and in particular China.” (18/11/2009)
Dnevnik – Slovenia
The US head of state Barack Obama may not have signed a deal but at least he sought dialogue with China, writes Andrej Mrevlje in praise of Obama’s efforts in the daily Dnevnik:
“I am prepared to believe that Obama used his best arguments in his tête-à-tête [with China's president]. In Shanghai Obama said he was interested in China’s vision of a global world. If there is such a vision, it is steeped in nationalism and strong military discipline. Obama could not have overlooked these facts. But unlike the majority of power-hungry politicians Obama is not used to delivering fatal blows. He prefers talks in which he can explain his visions. Is that too little? Perhaps. But right in the middle of Beijing Obama suddenly started talking about human rights, mentioned the Dalai Lama and got the whole climate change issue moving again.” (18/11/2009)
The Daily Telegraph – United Kingdom
On the occasion of US President Barack Obama’s trip to China, The Daily Telegraph writes that the two countries can only agree on business issues:
“In truth, the relationship between these two giants is destined to remain uneasy. There will never be a meeting of minds between a rebarbative Communist dictatorship that routinely offers succour to the world’s least savoury regimes, and a country that has long been a beacon for political freedom. That does not mean they cannot do business successfully – which, in turn, is why China’s intransigence over its undervalued currency has far greater ramifications for the West than its approach to human rights.” (18/11/2009)
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