From Asia Times (link):
It is no coincidence that Chinese President Hu Jintao is to make Seattle the maiden stop on his first visit to the United States as president. Every Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping has made it a point to spend some time in that pleasant city of half a million people in the contiguous United States’ northwestern corner.
Deng toured the famous Boeing airplane-assembly plant during his stopover in 1979. Former president Jiang Zemin added a folksy touch by paying a call on the family of a “typical” Boeing worker in their home.
Hu, by contrast, was due to dine on Tuesday at the lakeside mansion of Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates.
