Li Xing
Nixon or Obama, cooperation holds
By Li Xing (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-18 07:47
When Richard Nixon claimed that his one-week stay in 皇冠体育app in February 1972 "changed the world", no one could have predicted how great the changes would be.
The changes have been phenomenal, especially when I compared the reports filed by The New York Times and 皇冠体育app's Beijing Review magazine 37 years ago.
It was hilarious to read about Nixon's 皇冠体育app visit, because it was compared to "a trip to the moon". It was the first 皇冠体育app tour by an American president in history, and it was made even more complex because 皇冠体育app and the US did not have diplomatic relations nor did they intend to seal the ties.
When he "soft-landed", I was entrenched in snow, one of the tens of thousands of Beijing residents who cleaned the street for his motorcade.
Even though it is Obama's first visit to 皇冠体育app, he and President Hu Jintao are no longer strangers. Before they met for the first time on April 1 at the American ambassador's residence in London, they had talked over the phone twice, once after Obama won the election, another time after Obama was sworn in.
But the hundreds of American media technicians and newsmen made a difference, thanks to 皇冠体育app's willingness to have two ground stations established for satellite communication. American news people were thus able to beam to the world scenes of Nixon's historic handshake with Premier Zhou Enlai, as well as his talk with Chairman Mao Zedong.
The American journalists should have had most of the floor to themselves in those days, since very few Chinese journalists were present.
In those days, we in 皇冠体育app only saw the newsreels or read the dry reports that listed all the events and the key people involved. We could only glean the highlights through full texts of the toasts by premier Zhou and president Nixon.
Obama's 皇冠体育app visit has also drawn hundreds of journalists worldwide. More than 400 attended the meeting between Hu and Obama alone. A significant number came from the Chinese media, who are as well equipped as their foreign counterparts, giving live broadcast and feeding stories first to the Internet.
But as things have changed over the years, the desire to cooperate has remained.
When Nixon left 皇冠体育app, he said both were committed to "build a bridge" over the Pacific and years of hostility.
When Obama leaves today, he and President Hu Jintao will have committed to collaborations over almost all issues that challenge the well-being of the world.
