“LOST IN Translation” would have been the best title for the joint press conference by President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, in the East Room of the White House yesterday.
“I didn’t realise there wasn’t simultaneous translation,” Mr Obama said, almost aghast, after the interminable translation of his remarks into Chinese.
Four questions were allowed, two from American journalists, two from Chinese. The process took an excruciating hour and eight minutes and seemed an allegory for the fraught but inescapable relationship between the two countries.
When an American accused Mr Hu of failing to answer a previous question about human rights, the Chinese leader replied: “Because of the technical interpretation and translation problem, I did not hear the question about human rights.”
A journalist from the Xinhua news agency provoked laughter by prefacing his question: “I would like to ask the Chinese interpreter to interpret my two questions correctly and accurately.” President Obama won the biggest laugh when he cut to the chase, faced Mr Hu and said: “We want to sell you all kinds of stuff. We want to sell you planes, cars, software . . .”
President Hu stood rigid and impassive, his face registering no reaction as Mr Obama’s words were translated for him. Mr Obama talked about the rise of China, currency rates, intellectual property, jobs and standards of living. Mr Hu’s bromides reverted constantly to the need for communication, co-ordination, co-operation and exchange.
The code phrase about the need for the two sides to “respect each others’ sovereignty, territorial integrity and interests” appeared to refer to Tibet, Taiwan, North Korea and the South China Sea.
Human rights were on everyone's mind. The former Chinese political prisoner Yang Jianli, now a Harvard fellow, wrote in yesterday's Washington Postthat the Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo "and thousands, if not tens of thousands, of other Chinese citizens are in prison simply for expressing their opinions".
“China has a different political system than we do,” Mr Obama said, seeming to make excuses for his guest. “China is at a different stage of development than we are. We come from very different cultures with very different histories.” But Mr Obama said he had repeated to Mr Hu that “we have the some core views as Americans about the universality of certain rights – freedom of speech, religion and assembly – that we think are very important and transcend cultures.” These issues were occasionally “a source of tension between our governments” but did not prevent China and the US co-operating in other areas.
Mr Hu said: “China is always committed to the protection and promotion of human rights,” but “we do believe that we also need to take into account the different and national circumstances when it comes to the universal value of human rights.”
Neither president mentioned specifics, such as the case of Liu Xiaobo, but Mr Hu admitted that “a lot still needs to be done in China in terms of human rights. We will continue our efforts to improve the lives of the Chinese population and we will continue our efforts to promote democracy and the rule of law,” he promised, in what was doubtless the most startling moment of the press conference.
China was “willing to engage in dialogue . . . on the basis of mutual respect and the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” he added.
US China-watchers have this week pointed out that China routinely denies unfair trade practices such as currency manipulation, the theft of intellectual property and discrimination against foreign businesses. Occasionally, it promises to address the problems, then continues as before. Mr Hu’s words about democracy and the rule of law had a similar ring to them.
Nonetheless, the White House was heartened by the $45 billion in contracts – including $19 billion for 200 Boeing aircraft – announced yesterday. The exports to China would support 235,000 jobs in the US, Mr Obama said.
Mr Obama also trumpeted Chinese commitments to allow US companies to compete for Chinese government contracts, and to crack down on Chinese theft of US intellectual property.
Just before the press conference, Mr Obama chaired a meeting of top US business executives with Chinese officials and business leaders. According to Steve Ballmer, the head of Microsoft, “only one customer of every 10 . . . is actually paying for it in China,” Mr Obama said.