chinamind

----United States President Barack Obama will visit China from Nov. 15 to 18 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Obama is coming, exactly after finishing his first year in office but remaining in fierce tussles against financial crunch at home and against terrorists at the two overseas battle fronts. He is coming with his unfulfilled campaign promises and his famous banner--Change, which has commonded a popular support for his landslide win and ignited much more than admiration deep inside the common people all around the world.  

His to-be visit is first of all an inspiring trip among the Chinese young generation, as they will see in him the rekindled American Dream and the hope to start up from scratch.

His to-be visit is a warm-up trip concerning the flip-flap China-U.S. relations in the face of global downtrend, deteriorating environment and escalating terrorist attacks. He will come to show the agreement that grappling with the shared global challenges, the two giants cannot afford to slip back to confrontations. Any relapse in the bilateral ties would take toll on the common efforts to struggle out of the economic mire.

Bearing this in mind, the President will set his foot on the Chinese soil. But whether his trip will materialize his expectations to upgrade the bilateral relations and whether he will come back not empty-handed probably depend on how much he would be devoted to his promise--change.

May he breathe some fresh air this time activating the stagnant chessboard and visibly pushing the two strategic partners towards a more comprehensive handshake!

netawhile

This is a very important trip for our U.S. President and one that I have been looking forward to.  The energetic campaign and quest for "change" have been hit with many adversities in the first year of his term.  Change doesn't come easy, but having "change" as the core interest for domestic and international affairs is the premise of the administration.  The visit to China will be filled with many points of a busy agenda, but it could also be a time for President Obama to enjoy a brief time "out of the storm" and take in comments and good wishes of China.  He is a young President and his youth, in addition to his new ideas, will be revitalizing to the young and old in the Chinese society.  I hope it will be a good step forward in building mutual trust and admiration of citizens of both countries as we seek a harmonious foundation for our future.

This is an historical meeting of two great leaders at a particularly unique period of the finest era of leaderships, also faced with the most unique world conditions.