Beijing (AsiaNews) – On the last day of his visit to China, Barack Obama met with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. As a final gesture, before his departure, the U.S. president visited the Great Wall. Meanwhile reports of persons arrested and deported from Beijing to ensure they will not meet with the American guest are persistent.
The meeting with Wen Jiabao took place in the late morning, and focused mainly on economic relations between the two superpowers and on the imbalance between the two. China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, with 797 billion dollars.
The meeting was followed by lunch together in the residence for VIPs at Diaoyutai.
Before his departure for South Korea, the last leg of his trip to Asia, Barack Obama visited the Great Wall.
Meanwhile, the CHRD (Chinese Human Rights Defenders) reports that hundreds of people who arrived in Beijing to press the U.S. president on human rights, have been detained and deported. On the evening of November 16, about 90 activists from Shanghai, arrived at Diaoyutai be able to see Obama, but were taken by the police. About 40 of them were transferred to prison in Ganjiakou, the other inmates to a "black prison" (unofficial) near the southern station. All those arrested belong to a group whose homes have been expropriated and destroyed to prepare space for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
Another hundred people who had come to Beijing to petition, were taken and deported to their provinces.
According to experts and analysts, Beijing has emerged victor from Barack Obama’s visit, which saw its role as a superpower publicly recognized; its claim on Tibet and Taiwan confirmed; human rights overshadowed. For its part Beijing made no promise to appreciate the Yuan or on climate issues.