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| On Visit to China, Michelle Obama Eases In Some Political Messages | |
| (38 minutes later) | |
| CHENGDU, China — Michelle Obama’s weeklong trip to China seemed to start as a spring break holiday with her mother and daughters but has turned out to include far more substance — and politics — than the cheerful advocate of fitness and healthful eating often displays at home. | CHENGDU, China — Michelle Obama’s weeklong trip to China seemed to start as a spring break holiday with her mother and daughters but has turned out to include far more substance — and politics — than the cheerful advocate of fitness and healthful eating often displays at home. |
| At a high school here on Tuesday, Mrs. Obama pointedly told students that the United States championed “the right to say what we think and worship as we choose,” even as she conceded that Americans still lived those ideals imperfectly and that minorities had struggled to overcome a legacy of discrimination. | At a high school here on Tuesday, Mrs. Obama pointedly told students that the United States championed “the right to say what we think and worship as we choose,” even as she conceded that Americans still lived those ideals imperfectly and that minorities had struggled to overcome a legacy of discrimination. |
| “Many decades ago, there were actually laws in America that allowed discrimination against black people like me, who are a minority in the United States,” Mrs. Obama said in a speech at the Number 7 School here. “But over time, ordinary citizens decided that those laws were unfair. So they held peaceful protests and marches.” | “Many decades ago, there were actually laws in America that allowed discrimination against black people like me, who are a minority in the United States,” Mrs. Obama said in a speech at the Number 7 School here. “But over time, ordinary citizens decided that those laws were unfair. So they held peaceful protests and marches.” |
| Slowly but surely, Mrs. Obama said to her rapt young Chinese audience, America changed, and “today, 50 years later, my husband and I are president and first lady of the United States.” | Slowly but surely, Mrs. Obama said to her rapt young Chinese audience, America changed, and “today, 50 years later, my husband and I are president and first lady of the United States.” |
| It was the second time in four days that Mrs. Obama spoke openly about free expression and minority rights — messages that resonate in a society where the Internet is censored and the central government ruthlessly represses Tibetans and other ethnic minorities. | It was the second time in four days that Mrs. Obama spoke openly about free expression and minority rights — messages that resonate in a society where the Internet is censored and the central government ruthlessly represses Tibetans and other ethnic minorities. |
| Although her remarks have been less thunderous than the call for women’s rights delivered by Hillary Rodham Clinton as first lady in Beijing in 1995, Mrs. Obama has been more intimate in bringing her own personal story to China. On Tuesday, for example, she told students about her uphill journey from the South Side of Chicago to Princeton and Harvard Law School, both coveted destinations for the children of China’s elite. | Although her remarks have been less thunderous than the call for women’s rights delivered by Hillary Rodham Clinton as first lady in Beijing in 1995, Mrs. Obama has been more intimate in bringing her own personal story to China. On Tuesday, for example, she told students about her uphill journey from the South Side of Chicago to Princeton and Harvard Law School, both coveted destinations for the children of China’s elite. |
| On Saturday at the Stanford Center of Peking University, Mrs. Obama spoke of free expression, particularly on the Internet, as the essential ingredient of a prosperous society, and on Sunday she met with a blind man during a round-table discussion at the American Embassy in Beijing to promote opportunities for those with disabilities. | On Saturday at the Stanford Center of Peking University, Mrs. Obama spoke of free expression, particularly on the Internet, as the essential ingredient of a prosperous society, and on Sunday she met with a blind man during a round-table discussion at the American Embassy in Beijing to promote opportunities for those with disabilities. |
| At every stop, she has pushed the idea that excellent education should be for all, not just the rich — a theme that is familiar in her appearances in the United States but strikes a different chord here. | At every stop, she has pushed the idea that excellent education should be for all, not just the rich — a theme that is familiar in her appearances in the United States but strikes a different chord here. |
| Mrs. Obama may also have corrected some misimpressions of the United States, including the view in China that American education is easy and fun compared with the drill-oriented, exam-cramming Chinese school system. When she was aiming to get into a top college, the first lady recalled, she sometimes woke up before dawn to study. | Mrs. Obama may also have corrected some misimpressions of the United States, including the view in China that American education is easy and fun compared with the drill-oriented, exam-cramming Chinese school system. When she was aiming to get into a top college, the first lady recalled, she sometimes woke up before dawn to study. |
| “The school was very far from my home,” she said, “so I had to get up early every morning and ride a bus for an hour, sometimes an hour and a half if the weather was bad. And every afternoon, I’d ride that same bus back home and then immediately start my homework, often studying late into the night — and sometimes I would wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning to study even more.” | “The school was very far from my home,” she said, “so I had to get up early every morning and ride a bus for an hour, sometimes an hour and a half if the weather was bad. And every afternoon, I’d ride that same bus back home and then immediately start my homework, often studying late into the night — and sometimes I would wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning to study even more.” |
| Her comments shocked some Chinese. | Her comments shocked some Chinese. |
| “Even Chinese kids don’t get up that early,” said one stunned student on Sina Weibo, China’s biggest microblog site, with about 50 million daily users. | “Even Chinese kids don’t get up that early,” said one stunned student on Sina Weibo, China’s biggest microblog site, with about 50 million daily users. |
| From the outset, the White House couched Mrs. Obama’s three-city China tour as a mix of family adventure with an overlay of education, as well as a promotion of “people to people” exchanges between China and the United States as the theme. White House officials said Mrs. Obama would steer clear of discussing human rights abuses and other politically delicate issues. | |
| No one suggested it would be anything like Mrs. Clinton’s visit in 1995, when she declared that “women’s rights are human rights” at a United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing. The Chinese government denounced her and blocked her remarks on Chinese television and radio. Although the speech transformed Mrs. Clinton’s image overseas, it is remembered sourly to this day by some Chinese officials. | No one suggested it would be anything like Mrs. Clinton’s visit in 1995, when she declared that “women’s rights are human rights” at a United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing. The Chinese government denounced her and blocked her remarks on Chinese television and radio. Although the speech transformed Mrs. Clinton’s image overseas, it is remembered sourly to this day by some Chinese officials. |
| In 2008, Laura Bush, then on her way as first lady to the Olympic Games in Beijing, visited a refugee camp in Thailand for Burmese citizens fleeing their repressive government, which was backed by the Chinese government. Beijing condemned the trip. | |
| On this trip, Mrs. Obama is writing blog posts filled with historical detail and wonderment for the White House website. She is traveling with her daughters, Malia, 15, and Sasha, 12, and her mother, Marian Robinson — a tableau of three generations intended to appeal to the Chinese sense of family. | |
| For their part, the Chinese said Mrs. Obama was visiting at the invitation of Peng Liyuan, the wife of President Xi Jinping. They embraced the trip as an example of soft diplomacy, making it more difficult for them to outwardly criticize aspects of the trip they may not like. | |
| In a sign of the importance China attached to it, Mr. Xi welcomed Mrs. Obama himself last week and passed along her greetings to Mr. Obama when the two met in The Hague on Monday. | |
| The state-run newspapers and CCTV, the state broadcaster, censored Mrs. Obama’s remarks about freedom of speech, but did cover the main educational content of the speech that she gave at Peking University, Beijing’s most prestigious campus. | The state-run newspapers and CCTV, the state broadcaster, censored Mrs. Obama’s remarks about freedom of speech, but did cover the main educational content of the speech that she gave at Peking University, Beijing’s most prestigious campus. |
| And the full text of the address, including the nine sentences about freedom of speech and worship being a universal right, was published in English and Chinese on Sina Weibo — a sign, several analysts said, that the government decided, even in the current period of tighter restrictions on the Internet, not to take a heavy-handed approach to Mrs. Obama’s remarks, and stopped short of censoring an address that was mainly focused on education. | And the full text of the address, including the nine sentences about freedom of speech and worship being a universal right, was published in English and Chinese on Sina Weibo — a sign, several analysts said, that the government decided, even in the current period of tighter restrictions on the Internet, not to take a heavy-handed approach to Mrs. Obama’s remarks, and stopped short of censoring an address that was mainly focused on education. |
| On the tourism front, Mrs. Obama took in the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in Beijing, and viewed the terra-cotta warriors and 600-year-old city wall in Xi’an. She has also made plain her goal of educating her daughters, who did not always look as animated as their mother at the terra-cotta warriors. She encouraged them to notice the smallest details: “Did the girls see that?” she asked as a tour guide explained that the cypress trees in the imperial gardens of the Forbidden City were 300 years old. | On the tourism front, Mrs. Obama took in the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in Beijing, and viewed the terra-cotta warriors and 600-year-old city wall in Xi’an. She has also made plain her goal of educating her daughters, who did not always look as animated as their mother at the terra-cotta warriors. She encouraged them to notice the smallest details: “Did the girls see that?” she asked as a tour guide explained that the cypress trees in the imperial gardens of the Forbidden City were 300 years old. |
| As Mrs. Obama carried the message of the importance of education, some Chinese students asked surprising questions. One, at Number 7 School, raised the argument that the American education system produces more creative people than the Chinese system. | As Mrs. Obama carried the message of the importance of education, some Chinese students asked surprising questions. One, at Number 7 School, raised the argument that the American education system produces more creative people than the Chinese system. |
| “We’ve seen many examples of creative Americans,” the student said to Mrs. Obama as she sat at a desk in their classroom. “So how do you think school education makes students become creative?” | “We’ve seen many examples of creative Americans,” the student said to Mrs. Obama as she sat at a desk in their classroom. “So how do you think school education makes students become creative?” |
| Mrs. Obama recommended writing — and good teachers — as the spark for creativity. “Some of my best teachers were in school; they were the people who encouraged me to write, who gave me the skills, who showed me new ideas, new approaches,” she said. | Mrs. Obama recommended writing — and good teachers — as the spark for creativity. “Some of my best teachers were in school; they were the people who encouraged me to write, who gave me the skills, who showed me new ideas, new approaches,” she said. |
| A historian of Chinese history, Zhang Lifan, said that many Chinese would see a great contrast between Mrs. Obama’s personal story of striving for success and the ladder to success through membership of the Communist Party in China. | |
| “Ordinary citizens will see the U.S. system has more opportunity for ethnic minorities to rise,” he said. “In the United States, the dream is as long as you work hard, you can rise.” In China, he said, “it is only under the Communist Party that you can have opportunities.” | “Ordinary citizens will see the U.S. system has more opportunity for ethnic minorities to rise,” he said. “In the United States, the dream is as long as you work hard, you can rise.” In China, he said, “it is only under the Communist Party that you can have opportunities.” |
| At the round-table discussion at the embassy, Mrs. Obama led a small group of Chinese educators, parents and students in a talk about how a good education should be available to the less privileged. The blind man was among the group, and he described how education and employment opportunities for the blind in China were limited. | At the round-table discussion at the embassy, Mrs. Obama led a small group of Chinese educators, parents and students in a talk about how a good education should be available to the less privileged. The blind man was among the group, and he described how education and employment opportunities for the blind in China were limited. |
| On Wednesday, her last day in the country, Mrs. Obama will visit a research station for pandas, the ultimate symbol of China’s soft power. | On Wednesday, her last day in the country, Mrs. Obama will visit a research station for pandas, the ultimate symbol of China’s soft power. |
| The last stop will be lunch at a Tibetan restaurant in Chengdu, a choice that her staff readily acknowledged had been made not for the cuisine but as a political statement to show support for the rights and religious liberties of Tibetans in China. | The last stop will be lunch at a Tibetan restaurant in Chengdu, a choice that her staff readily acknowledged had been made not for the cuisine but as a political statement to show support for the rights and religious liberties of Tibetans in China. |