Tensions simmer as China’s president Xi visits Obama in the US

Chinese president Xi Jinping’s first official visit as head of state to the US will highlight the stark differences that remain between the world’s largest superpower and the fastest rising global power.

China and the US are poles apart on cybersecurity, China's regional territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, and what Washington sees as a lack of progress on political reform or human rights as well as barriers to entry for US firms. However, there are optimistic signs of efforts to control carbon emissions and on greater recognition by the US of China as an emerging power.

The two sides appear keen to emphasise the positive aspects of their relationship but establishing real trust and rapport between the two leaders, which has always been challenging, could be tough to amid growing tensions on regional security and trade.

Relations have not been hugely warm between Xi and Barack Obama, although they seem to be better than Obama's relationship with his predecessor, Hu Jintao.

Xi has spent time in the US and admires aspects of the culture. But, in terms of political allies he is said to be more of a fan of the authoritarian style of Russia's president Vladimir Putin.

In the run-up to the visit, the website of the official organ of the ruling Communist Party, the People's Daily, ran an A- Z of 26 keywords. Brightly illustrated with cartoons, and written in a snappy style, the posts veer between soft-power propaganda and harder policy notes. While quotes from the poet Marianne Moore make the list an easier read than it might have been, some are more revealing than others, such as references to plans to cut back the military.

‘C’ is for ‘China Dream’

“E” is for “Economic New Normal”, the idea that slowing economic growth is something not to be feared. “C” is for “China Dream”, the president’s vision of national rejuvenation. “L” is for “Lakers”, the US basketball team who Xi went to see on a visit as vice-premier.

Under “K” is for “Knowledgeable”, we learn how Xi would read “books thick as bricks” and “sometimes even read while eating”.

Less snappy, but crucial for the coming meeting, is “J”, which stands for the “Joint Announcement on Climate Change”, whereby China and the US agreed to collaborate on cutting carbon emissions ahead of the Paris summit in December.

Certainly Xi will have a busy trip. On Tuesday he'll be in Seattle at a banquet attended by former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, while on Wednesday he will attend a round-table of leading Chinese and chief executives from the US, as well as visiting the headquarters of both Microsoft and Boeing.

The next day he flies to Washington DC, and on Friday he and his wife Peng Liyuan will attend a state dinner, hosted by Obama and his wife Michelle.

Then it's off to New York to address the United Nations general assembly.

North Korea

During the visit, we can expect discussions on areas where the leaders agree, such as reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and climate change, to areas where they don’t agree, such as dealing with US concerns about Chinese state-backed hackers, and Washington’s disquiet about Chinese reclamation work in the South China Sea.

Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the US, wrote a stirring piece in the People's Daily, which stressed the importance of avoiding a "Thucydides Trap", which is used to explain the likelihood of conflict between a rising power and a currently dominant one.

“People of vision in the two countries should adopt a long-term perspective and work together to promote the building of the new type of major country relationship.”

Chinese official media is pushing the event as a major milestone. The official Xinhua news agency is giving major prominence to an interview it did with John Thornton, the co-chair of the Washington think tank the Brookings Institution.

“The China-US relationship will deepen over time and must deepen over time,” said Thornton, a one-time president of Goldman Sachs.

“The biggest single change in the world over the last 30 years is that China has been rising. That will continue to be the case . . . if the two most powerful countries address a big problem together, the likelihood of solving the problem goes up significantly.”

Restrictive policy

Press freedom is an issue for the US, especially as the Chinese government has a restrictive policy of granting visas to journalists from American titles like the

New York Times

.

In the run-up to the visit, Xi took the opportunity of a visit by NewsCorp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch to offer assurances that China would remain open to overseas journalists, despite the government withholding residence visas for foreign reporters.

John Frisbie, who heads up the US-China Business Council, believes the trip is a good opportunity to address uncertainties in the relationship between the two countries.

“Uncertainty” best characterises the current view of American business leaders about China. Uncertainty about China’s economic slowdown, the leadership’s commitment to meaningful reforms of its economy, and the strategic issues in the US-China relationship, especially cybersecurity, Frisbie wrote in an opinion piece.

"The most important thing Xi can do during his visit to the United States is address this uncertainty," wrote Frisbie