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Saturday, September 03, 2016

Bumpy start to Obama’s China trip, beginning with the stairs

HANGZHOU, China (AP) — If President Barack Obama was hoping for a graceful start to his final trip to Asia as commander in chief, this wasn’t it.

A confrontation between a White House aide and a Chinese official, and other diplomatic dust-ups were out in the open from the moment Air Force One landed in Hangzhou, site of an economic summit.

The first sign of trouble: There was no staircase for Obama to exit the plane and descend on the red carpet. Obama used an alternative exit.

On the tarmac, a quarrel broke out between a presidential aide and a Chinese official who demanded the journalists traveling with Obama be prohibited from getting anywhere near him. It was a breach of the tradition observed whenever the American president arrives in a foreign place.

When the White House official insisted the U.S. would set the rules for its own leader, her Chinese counterpart shot back.

“This is our country! This is our airport!” the Chinese official yelled.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Probably just finished a "rolled weed" with his daughter....couldn't see the red carpet for the smoke!!! OR he is use to looking at golf courses and didn't know what the red thing was....LOL

Anonymous said...

Please. With Trump and Hildabeast going at each other, who really cares about showing this country any respect regardless who the president is. The entire world see this country as a joke.

Anonymous said...

He is just so Un-American - too bad he didn't fall down those steps.