Obama’s Trip to China (Follow-up)

During his visit, apart from the summit meeting on global challenges such as the economic crisis, nuclear proliferation, and energy cooperation, Obama delivered the speech with Shanghai's younger generation about the future of Sino-American relationship.
There has been a flurry of news in response to his visit so far. Here is a round up of the links for you to save much time but to get ins and outs of this move.

Obama’s Books Best-sellers in China [ChinaDaily]
Typing "Obama" in Amazon.cn, one of China's largest online bookstores, brings up 86 search results, 50 of which are Chinese books about the US president's life story, his 2008 political campaign or compilations of his speeches.

Can Obama Get Around China’s “Great Firewall” [Time]
The official U.S. buzzword for President Obama's visit to China this week is "pragmatic cooperation," but behind the scenes, U.S. diplomats have been aiming for something a little closer to subversion — at least when it comes to getting around China's "great firewall" of official censorship and information control.

Live Blogging Obama’s Shanghai Town Hall [Wall Street Journal]
Actually that’s a full ring around shaking hands. It’s nice to meet people and get questions you’ve been asked a million times before but to me the premise is wrong. The US idea is that if a US president can speak “directly” to “the Chinese people” then somehow this will be a great thing.

Obama’s Town Hall in Shanghai Just Now [Atlantic]
No very shocking questions from the students, though some had swathed edges to them: What about harmonious relations and arms sales with Taiwan? Obama doesn't answer about arms sales but does, carefully, about the harmonious relations. What about the Great Firewall and free access to info? Obama explains why free exchange of info makes leaders do a better job, even if he doesn't like the criticism some times. What about the risk that an intentionally- and historically-diverse nation like the US will misunderstand the situation of countries with different histories and makeups? Obama gives a defense and celebration of diversity, in his country and in his family. And says that he doesn't use Twitter.

White House AV Staff on Drugs … AND How to Watch the Obama Town Hall outside of Shanghai [Shanghai Scrap]
This post was originally intended as a public service to folks in China who don't have access to a television broadcast of the Obama Town Hall. But then I spent the last hour listening to the boneheads in charge of the audio for the broadcast inadvertently beam their voices - and overall lack of awareness - to the world, via the White House Facebook page.

China Restricts Obama’s Q&A [Global and Mail]
It almost didn't happen, but U.S. President Barack Obama will get a chance to showcase his famous oratory skills – live, but not quite uncensored – when he fields questions from Chinese university students in Shanghai Monday. Anxious Chinese authorities, however, have decided not to broadcast the “town hall” style question-and-answer session live on the country's main television network.

FactBox: Five Facts about Shanghai, Obama’s First China Stop [Reuters]
During the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, which ended in 1976, thousands of Shanghai people were sent into the countryside to work, and the city's development ground to a halt. Fortunately, many of Shanghai's historic buildings, including the famous waterfront Bund, were left untouched.

The Nine Nations of China [Atlantic]
What kind of country will he find there? We tend to imagine China as a monolith: 1.3 billion people sharing the same language, history, and culture. The truth is far more interesting. China is a mosaic of several distinct regions, each with its own resources, dynamics, and historical character.

Five Things the US Can Learn from China [Time]
The visit comes at an awkward moment for the U.S. China, despite its 5,000-year burden of history, has emerged as a dynamo of optimism, experimentation and growth. It has defied the global economic slump, and the sense that it's the world's ascendant power has never been stronger. The U.S., by contrast, seems suddenly older and frailer.

Is Barack Obama Unpopular in China [Wall Street Journal]
Just last year, Obama seemed as popular in China as anywhere. A survey by the U.S. embassy in Beijing late last year and reprinted in China Daily showed he was popular among 75% of Internet users who participated in the survey.

China Visit Sparks Obama Mania [BBC]

Obama Courts China on Asia Visit [BBC]

Obama Pushes Rights with Chinese Students [New York Times]
“We do not seek to contain China’s rise,” Mr. Obama told the several hundred students at the Museum of Science and Technology. “We know more is to be gained when great powers cooperate rather than collide.”

President Obama in China [New York Times]
To do that he needs to encourage China to play an even stronger international role — but also curb some of its darker instincts, including its mistreatment of its own citizens, its less than savory relationships with countries like Sudan and its tendency to bully its neighbors.

Why The China Trip Matters [Atlantic]
Thirty years from now, the most important aspect of Barack Obama's interaction with China will be whether the two countries, together, can do anything about environmental and climate issues. If they can, in 2039 we'll look back on this as something like the Silent Spring/Clean Air Act moment in American history, which began a change toward broad environmental improvement. If they can't....

The Chinese Are “Changing Us” [Washington Post]
While it's not exactly the People's Republic of Wisconsin, this state has been seized with a China fever of sorts. Throughout the United States, old notions of China have been replaced with a deeper understanding that China is a force that must be reckoned with. Hate it or love it, China is a major player in American life.