Associated Press: President Barack Obama greets Chinese President Hu Jintao during the official arrivals for the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Monday April 12, 2010.
Considering how much money we owe China, this might actually become a necessary custom for all US presidents. Sigh.
Via: Drudge
Via: Associated Press
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12 comments:
Please Mr. President, stop bowing to every Asian foreign leader that you meet. I realize that you want to be respectful of their culture but in our culture, we do not bow. Bowing is a sign of weakness to Asians, the lower you bow, the weaker you are. Hu JinTao didn't appear to bow to you. Maybe the pictures I saw didn't show his response.
However, bowing is not becoming of our supreme military commander and not becoming of the leader of the free world. I have worked and lived in Asia for many of my adult years and studied Mandarin and Chinese culture for more than 20 years. This is not helpful to our image but shows that we either don't understand the custom or we feel our place is below theirs.
I have great respect for your office but bowing as you have on more than one occasion now is lessening that respect that others around the world have for you, your office, and our country.
I know you hope to change our enemies’ minds so that they believe that we are nice people and are only trying to help. But this is not the way. Our enemies will only laugh at your bowing as either a gaff or as a sign of your weakness making us a bigger target for aggression.
Just shake their hand. That's the American way to greet people--even important people. The Chinese will not be offended.
I hope that your meetings in Asia are successful and that you are able to help our nation out of the multiple crises we face.
Best regards,
Mike
Very well said Mike, you said quite a bit and it was all done without any cheap shots....you're making it hard for me to say something negative about Obama so I'll just say that IMO it's because he views America as bad. It's somewhat looked down upon to say that BO hates America, but I think he really resents it and its power. MO said as much and it's just not PC to say so, but I think it's where he stands.
Mike:
You should actually mail that to Obama. Perhaps the polite touch would do the trick.
Ozzie:
I think Obama bows deliberately. I think he thinks he is winning hearts and minds. In the case of China that is pure foolishness.
The Chinese own a major chunk of our debt. They will hold on to it until it is no longer financially advantageous for them. They they will take action in accord with their best financial interest. All the bowing in the world won't change that.
Clifton B:
I agree with what you've said.
Very well put, Mike.
This is now the FIFTH TIME our President has bowed to a foreign leader and the foreign leader did NOT bow back.
Had Mr. Jintao returned the bow, this would have been a positive display of mutual respect. Because he did not, this becomes a disturbing show of one-sided deference inappropriate for our President in the face of a foreign leader.
What, no curtsey for the Queen of England.....?
Why is anyone, anywhere, bowing to China, a country that gladly kills its female infants and returns North Koreans to a hellhole? Don't get me started on the demands it makes of other countries whenever that odious octopus of a nation makes a request.
obama have every rights to bow to this leader it's called RESPECT people..Bush did the same thing and even dress liked the chinese leader...so what make obama wrong for bowing..because if he didn't bow YOU conservatives would have a field day on that too...
Obama has no respect for anyone, anonymous, except his fat ego.
It is funny that he bows to everyone he met. For Chinese culture, people do not bow. Only in certain rare cases, such as important ceremony you bow to your parents or ancesters. I am a Chinese.
The Corporate Medias collective heads would have exploded like people under brain attack in the Movie "Scanners" if President Soetoro had been bowing to a white man in that picture.
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