Obama Roundup

Unless you’ve been asleep since Sunday, you’ll be aware that US President Barack Obama is in China and currently visiting our fair city – the first US President to make a protracted official visit to China since Clinton came back in 1998. We’ll leave analysis of the political machinations involved in the visit to others, but here’s a rundown on some of the more quirky aspects of the trip, which winds up this afternoon.

Obama cemented his generally high standing with the Chinese people in the opening moments of his visit by stepping out of his plane in Shanghai on Sunday night holding his own umbrella. This seemingly insignificant moment generated a flurry of comment online. The Wall Street Journal carried this translated comment:

“I felt unaccustomed to this — Obama holding the umbrella on his own,” said a commentator on the Web site of the Wuhan-based Changjiang Daily. “There was nobody crowding round. The Chinese public puts up with a culture in which government officials have their umbrellas held for them.”

For all the trademark relaxed charisma on display as Obama stepped off his plane, the US President has been given very few opportunities to interact with ordinary Chinese people, as this Wall Street Journal article details. As has been widely reported, at least some of the “students” present at Obama’s “Town Hall" question and answer session in Shanghai were not in fact students. And his comments regarding internet censorship were – ahem – censored when the event was broadcast in China. You can watch the meeting here.

Predictably Obama has been doing some sightseeing between all the official guff, with a quick spin of the Forbidden City yesterday (Tuesday, November 17) and the Great Wall today (Wednesday, November 18).

Unfortunately, the President probably didn’t get the chance to check out the “Obamao” Maoist-flavored memorabilia we posted about a few weeks ago – as China Hush noted earlier this week the merchandise has been banned for the duration of Obama’s visit.

It seems authorities in Shanghai took the ban very seriously, with Beijing-based CNN correspondent Emily Chang claiming she was detained by security guards for two hours when she brandished one of the shirts while filming a story in a Shanghai market. Apparently authorities were concerned the Obamao bags and shirts would offend the president.

Finally, don’t be too upset that none of us were given a chance to see Obama – apparently Madame Tussauds Shanghai has created a likeness of the man to celebrate his visit, which has attracted long queues of visitors wanting to be photographed next to the president – or at least his wax effigy.