Obama presses Xi Jinping on 'rules'

 


US President Barack Obama has urged China to play by the 'same rules' in the global economy but voiced hope for co-operation in a key introductory meeting with leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping.
China's vice president, who is expected to take the helm next year, largely focused on positives, pledging in general terms that his nation would improve its widely criticised record on human rights.
Xi made the rounds in Washington as Tibetans and others staged noisy protests outside most venues.
At the Pentagon, he was given a rare honour ceremony with a 19-gun salute and booming cannons.
Obama, welcoming Xi to the Oval Office, said Washington welcomed a 'prosperous' China and praised its 'extraordinary development over the last two decades,' but stressed that power came with 'increased responsibilities.'
'We want to work with China to make sure that everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system,' Obama said alongside a relaxed-looking Xi, as senior aides and translators stood by.
'That includes ensuring that there is a balanced trading flow not only between the United States and China but around the world.'
The US leader also raised concerns about human rights, saying Washington would 'continue to emphasize what we believe is the importance of realising the aspirations and rights of all people'.
Speaking later at a luncheon for Xi at the State Department, Vice President Joe Biden sharply criticised China's decision to join Russia in vetoing a UN resolution condemning violence in Syria, as well as Beijing's rights record.
'We have been clear about our concern over the areas in which, from our perspective, conditions in China have deteriorated and about the plight of several very prominent individuals,' he said.
Xi responded that China had made 'tremendous and well-recognised achievements' in human rights but added: 'There is always room for improvement.'
'We will, in light of China's national conditions, continue to take concrete and effective policies and measures to promote social fairness, justice and harmony and push forward China's course of human rights,' he said.
Xi heads Wednesday to Iowa, where he will meet Midwesterners from his first trip to the United States in 1985, before heading to California where he is likely to watch a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game.