WASHINGTON (AP) — Touching on a key source of tension between the U.S. and China, President Barack Obama greeted Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday by stressing the need for nations to observe universal human rights. Hu responded with a call for both countries to respect each other's core interests.
Yet in a sign of the growing economic bonds between the two superpowers, Obama announced at a news conference later that major business deals would mean $45 billion in new U.S. exports. He says the deals also will help create thousands of American jobs. The White House also said China was taking significant steps to curtail the theft of intellectual property and expand U.S. investment.
Obama welcomed Hu to the White House with full honors and a red-carpet greeting, marking the start of daylong meetings to address trade, security and human rights issues that have been the cause of past strain between the two powers.
"History shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful and the world is more just when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all peoples are upheld including the universal rights of every human being," Obama said in his remarks.
China's human rights' policies have caused strains between the rival powers, with the U.S. calling on China to release jailed dissidents, including Nobel peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who was prevented from attending the Dec. 10 prize ceremony in the Norwegian capital.
Obama's tone was nonetheless friendly, welcoming China's rise as a global economic force. "We have an enormous stake in each other's success," he said.
Hu said the relationship between the two counties has grown to one of "strategic significance and global influence."
But he pointedly added: "China and the United States should respect each other's choice of development paths and each other's core interests."
The state visit marked Hu's first trip to the U.S. since 2006, when his arrival ceremony was marred by protocol blunders including an outburst from a protester from the Falun Gong spiritual sect. No such missteps occurred Wednesday.
