HIS FIRST trip to China will include a tour of the Forbidden City and some banquets of great Chinese food, but President Barack Obama’s visit to Beijing is no ordinary jaunt to the ancient capital.

Mr Obama landed in Shanghai yesterday to start his four-day visit during which he will try to balance his efforts to underline strong Sino-US ties with the need to emphasise Washington’s global role in the face of growing Chinese economic muscle.

International efforts to fight climate change, the need to co-ordinate action on global trouble spots such as North Korea and Iran, and concern over the value of the Chinese currency will all feature on the agenda.

The Nobel Peace laureate will also address human rights issues such as freedom of worship, although the American leader will avoid confrontation in the lead-in to his China visit, probably the most strategically important stopping point on his nine-day Asian jaunt. Saving face is important here.

On issues such as Tibet, he will have to deal with an at-times unsophisticated approach. A government spokesman said Mr Obama should be especially sympathetic to China’s opposition to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence, because he is a black president who lauded Abraham Lincoln for helping abolish slavery.

“He is a black president, and he understands the slavery abolition movement and Lincoln’s major significance for that movement,” said foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

“Lincoln played an incomparable role in protecting the national unity and territorial integrity of the United States,” he said.

Tibet is sure to be a knotty issue over the talks. Beijing calls the Dalai Lama a dangerous “splittist”, encouraging Tibetan independence, a charge he denies, saying he merely wants more autonomy for the region.

by The Irish Times. Read more on this story.