Showing all the class and style that has typified his eight-year tenure as U.S. president, Barack Obama downplayed what appeared to be a clear snub by Chinese authorities on his arrival there yesterday.
When the president’s Air Force One plane touched down at Hangzhou Xiao Shan International Airport, there was no red carpet and no mobile staircase to allow him to emerge as usual from the front of the plane.
Instead, he had to step down from a little-used exit at the back, which has its own extendable staircase.
A short line of dignitaries was waiting, and he spent time shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with them. But while this was going on, there were furious exchanges on the tarmac between members of his staff and Chinese organizers.
One of them was recorded, angrily shouting at an Obama staff member:
“This is our country. This is our airport.”
Talking to reporters ahead of his G20 meeting, and clearly wanting to focus on the vastly more important G20 issues ahead, Obama chose to take the charitable view. He said:
“It’s not the first time it has happened. It doesn’t just happen in China. It happens in other countries where we travel. I think that this time, though, the seams were showing a little more.”
The president is no doubt more aware than most that advance arrangements for any U.S. presidential visit are complex and exhaustive. For example, when Obama visited Indonesia for only 24 hours in 2010, there were loud complaints from staff and guests of the Shangri-la Hotel in Jakarta, as all the hotel’s parquet tiled floors were lifted so new, secure internet cabling could be installed.
Even so, it would be hard to describe this incident as anything other than a calculated diplomatic snub. Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, said:
“These things do not happen by mistake. Not with the Chinese. I’ve dealt with the Chinese for six years. I’ve done these visits. I took Xi Jinping to Mexico. I received two Mexican presidents in China. I know exactly how these things get worked out. It’s down to the last detail in everything. It’s not a mistake. It’s not.
“It’s a snub. It’s a way of saying: ‘You know, you’re not that special to us.’ It’s part of the new Chinese arrogance. It’s part of stirring up Chinese nationalism. It’s part of saying: ‘China stands up to the superpower.’ It’s part of saying: ‘And by the way, you’re just someone else to us.’ It works very well with the local audience.”
For the same meeting, China rolled out the red carpet for leaders including India’s Narendra Modi, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, South Korea’s Park Geun-hye, Brazil’s Michel Temer, and British prime minister Theresa May.
Compare and contrast the welcome to President Obama with the reception for the President of Senegal:
Featured image: Screenshot via YouTube Video.
