President Obama hosted a lavish state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday with a guest list featuring Hollywood and Silicon Valley glitterati, including the heads of Apple, Facebook, Disney and Dreamworks. He said the two nations have reached “a common understanding” against certain cyber activities, but “I have to insist that our work is not yet done” and “the question now is are words followed by actions”. “We have the right to uphold our own territorial sovereignty and lawful legitimate maritime rights and interests”.
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Their White House meeting touched on a wide range of issues including human rights, climate change and cyber espionage.
In a reminder of potential flashpoints, the United States and China also finalised a confidence-building plan aimed at reducing the risk of aerial collisions between warplanes in areas such as the South China Sea, through adoption of common rules of behaviour.
The tense relationship between the USA and China could loosen up in the future, as the two countries just reached an agreement to curb economic cyberespionage.
The U.S. and China also agreed to implement new fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles by 2019, a sector of the transport branch that has not yet been widely addressed.
Before Xi visit, the United States has threatened economic sanctions against China over the cyber-theft claims.
The United States in 2013 provided more than US$30 billion, and Britain, France, Germany and Japan all gave more than US$11 billion, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. American officials have blamed China for stealing up to 5.6 million fingerprint records, while Beijing has denied any responsibility.
Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the administration is determined to fight poverty in the country under its watch, citing sustained development efforts such as the expanded conditional cash transfer program to uplift the conditions of the poor families.
China-US relations have moved forward continuously in general over the past 70 years despite twists and turns, bringing a lot of benefits for people of the two countries and the world, he said.
“This will change absolutely nothing other than more American companies continuing to get ripped off by the Chinese“, the Michigan Republican said, criticizing the agreement for lacking an enforcement mechanism.
Our correspondent in Washington, Stefan Grobe, witnessed events:”Despite the red-carpet treatment for the Chinese leader, there seems to be little personal warmth between Obama and Xi Jinping – and even less trust”.
Obama greeted Xi on arrival at the White House yesterday morning for an elaborate ceremony on the South Lawn, including a military honour guard and 21-gun salute.
China dispatched its top domestic security official to Washington to try to stave off sanctions ahead of the president’s arrival.
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But it was very patchy, he says, adding that now China is offering to help other countries – particularly in Africa – make the same transformation.
