As Barack Obama and Xi Jinping prepare for their “shirt sleeves summit” in California, the stakes in U.S. China relations have rarely been higher. Belligerence in North Korea, territorial claims in the South China Sea and cyber attacks all compete for attention at the top of the agenda. A more confident and relaxed leader than his predecessors. Mr. Xi has raised hopes that greater rapport between the two men will help cut through the differences.
Between 2009 and 2011, as senior director for East Asian affairs on the National Security Council, Jeffrey Bader was a key player in organizing summit meetings between Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao. With so much on the line, China Real Time turned to Mr. Bader, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of “Obama and China’s Rise: An Insider’s Account of America’s Asia Strategy,” for his thoughts on what to expect.
Commentary
An Insider’s Guide to Obama and Xi’s “Shirt-Sleeves Summit”
June 7, 2013