From the Los Angeles Times (link):
Visiting Chinese leaders in the past have warmed American hearts by donning cowboy hats, dancing the hula and belting out renditions of “O Sole Mio,” helping soften an impression of robot-like communist officials.
Image makers say China faces a tougher sell with President Hu Jintao, who lands in Seattle today on the first leg of a three-stop U.S. visit. Though China’s fourth leader since 1949 is a serious, careful man with a near-photographic memory, spontaneity and off-the-cuff witticisms are not his strong suits.
“He’s an already cautious person made more meticulous by his years of work inside the [Communist] Party,” said Ma Ling, author of a 2002 biography.
See also:
– “For Hu and Bush, a long list of fires to fight” by David Shambaugh, in the International Herald Tribune
– “China’s Hu calls for positive U.S. visit” from Reuters
– “Business meetings to kick off Hu visit” from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
– “Hu’s White House lunch: Rare but not bloody” from Asia Times.
