Obama's 'emotional relations' with China
- By Xiao An
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 8, 2014
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[By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn] |
![[By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20140808/001ec949c22b154eb6ca08.jpg "[By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]")
The U.S. President Barack Obama once again expressed his dissatisfaction with current U.S.-China relations in an interview with the Economist, during which the U.S. president made a few remarks that Chinese people did not find easy to accept.
Given that some of the Chinese media that broke the news failed to translate the whole interview accurately, and dotted it with fabrications, it is necessary to clarify what Obama really said.
The interview, according to the online edition of the Economist, took place on Air Force One, en route to Washington D.C. from Kansas City. Obama started the interview by sharing his thoughts on the policies of the United States towards Africa, but when he touched upon the U.S. relations with China, he seemed to get carried away.
Obama told the Economist that the United States is unable to help Africa alone, but could "be central in moving Africa into the next stage of growth and integrating it into the world economy." He inferred that all countries, including China, are welcome to invest in Africa if they are willing to partner with Africa.
"And I do think that China has a certain capacity, for example, to build infrastructure in Africa that's critical. They've got a lot of capital and they may be less constrained than the United States is fiscally in helping roads get built and bridges and ports," Obama said.
In the meantime, Obama advised African leaders to ensure that China hires African workers in constructing these projects and that the infrastructure benefits African countries in the long term, rather than build roads that just "lead from the mine to the port to Shanghai."
Obama did not seem interested in commenting on the newly established BRICS bank, but nonetheless acknowledged the Economist's assertion that BRICS bank was a "really big issue of our times," in that it was a creative measure proposed by the new generation of leaders in the emerging markets.
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