US first lady Michelle Obama will travel to three cities in China this month, with her daughters and her mother in tow, and plans to share stories of her travels with US students through a daily travel blog, the White House said yesterday. Mrs Obama will meet her counterpart, Peng Liyuan, during the trip, the White House said.
The two first ladies did not meet last year when Ms Peng travelled to California with her husband, Chinese president Xi Jinping, who held informal talks with president Barack Obama on thorny issues such as cyber spying and the dispute between China and its neighbours over territory in the East China Sea.
At that time, Mrs Obama wrote to Ms Peng, saying she regretted missing the meeting, but hoped to visit China soon. Mrs Obama plans to visit a university and high school in Beijing from March 20th to 23rd, the city of Xi’an on March 24th, and a high school in Chengdu from March 25th to 26th, the White House said.
“No matter what country we live in, we’re all facing so many of the same challenges – from ensuring that students get a good education; to fighting poverty, hunger and disease; to addressing threats to our planet like climate change,” she said in a letter to students posted on the White House website.
–(Reuters)