The state visits of Chinese Communist Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping to Washington, D.C. in September and London last week were both significant milestones in China’s long term “rejuvenation,” a key element in Xi’s vaunted notion of “the China Dream.” What was important about these two visits was to project of an image of China as an increasing wealthy, powerful, and respected world power accepted, despite its authoritarian form of government, in the courts of the world’s so-called great powers.
In this sense, how the visits of President Xi were portrayed in the world press were as important as what actually was discussed or accomplished in the summit negotiations. And in each capital, the reception was quite different. In Washington, President Obama and John Kerry received President Xi with a certain cool correctness, at the same time as they welcomed Pope Francis with great enthusiasm and warmth. In London David Cameron and George Osborne, seeking greater Chinese trade and investment, received President Xi with such uncritical ardor and open arms that many viewed them as embarrassingly fawning.
In each country, the press responded with a wide variety of reactions. But, we thought it would be interesting to present the front pages of the Party-sponsored, English-language China Daily, not because they offer the most objective view of the two visits, but because they present the idealized way in which Chinese Communist Party leaders would have liked to see their leader received in each of these two countries which, because they have such different political systems, values, cultures, and media habits, often have withheld acceptance from China in ways that Beijing has found patronizing and galling.
‘China Daily’ Frontpages of Xi's State Visit to the U.S.
‘China Daily’ Frontpages of Xi's State Visit to the U.K.
Correction: David Cameron was misidentified in an earlier version of this story as James Cameron.
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