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SHANGHAI, Nov. 16 – In his first presidential trip to the region, U.S. President Barack Obama praised cooperative relations with China but sought to send a clear message to his host saying that few problems can be solved unless the United States and China work together, prodding China to accept what he called “universal rights.”
“We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation,” Mr. Obama was quoted by the Associated Press during a question-and-answer session with Chinese university students held in the city’s Museum of Science and Technology this afternoon. “But we also don’t believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation.”
He added: “These freedoms of expression, and worship, of access to information and political participation we believe they are universal rights. They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation.”
“More is gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide,” he said during his opening statement.
Freedom of expression was the constant theme of his speech. “I’m a big supporter of non-censorship,” Mr. Obama said on a question about internet usage. This comment applies to China, the world’s largest population of internet users and the most extensive system of web monitoring and censorship.
Mr. Obama went on to say that unrestricted internet access was a source of strength and that the free flow of information, including criticisms of his presidency, has helped by forcing him to consider other opinions. Mr. Obama arrived in Shanghai, China last night.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:16 am
“Mr. Obama went on to say that unrestricted internet access was a source of strength and that the free flow of information….”
I live in the USA and it does not have total unrestricted internet access. Here there are rightly restrictions on the internet concerning child pornography, internet gambling, and sites related to file sharing. Different countries and cultures will have their internet tuned to their sensitivities.
November 18th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
This article is terrible, why bother posting it.
“These freedoms of expression, and worship, of access to information and political participation we believe they are universal rights. They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation.”
I doubt Obama would say that and if he did he would be a hypocrite. For one, the U.S breaks all those rules on an international level.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Obama’s comments were widely reported, however there still exists a major discrepancy in content. The universal rights and censorship issues got major attention in the international media but were not mentioned in the Chinese media. China has had twenty years to relax its grip on censorship and still today it is as draconian as ever. While the US is far from perfect, at least getting YouTube, Twitter, Facebook etc is easy and one can purchase pretty much any literature one wants. That is not possible in China. – Chris