Chinese president begins first state visit to U.S.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Seattle, Washington on Tuesday (local time), starting the schedule for his first state visit to the United States. The Sino-U.S. summit scheduled for Friday draws global attention, as the meeting between the two greatest powers will have great influences on major international issues. While Xi had four summits with U.S. President Barack Obama, the upcoming summit will be his first through a state visit.

The summit, which will take place in Washington D.C., will almost certainly treat North Korea`s nuclear issue as a major issue, as the talks are held at a time when Pyongyang is expected to launch a long-range missile or make other types of provocation on October 10, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers` Party of Korea. Other major issues on agenda are expected to include key bilateral issues such cyber hacking and territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

A day before Xi`s arrival in the U.S., Obama expressed via his National Security Advisor Susan Rice, his will to strongly call for China`s change of attitude toward the North Korean nuclear issue.

"Neither the United States nor China will accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state," Rice said in a speech at George Washington University. "China is a fulcrum of influence for the DPRK, and this week’s meetings between Presidents Obama and Xi will be another opportunity to discuss how we can sharpen Pyongyang’s choices between having nuclear weapons and developing economically." Attention is drawn to the summit results, as the remarks are Washington`s open pressure on Beijing to send a weighty message that would make Pyongyang give up its simultaneous pursuit of nuclear and economic development.

In addition to the North Korean nuclear issue, Rice also cited five other key issues at the upcoming summit: cyber-enabled economic espionage, maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas, human rights violations, China`s business policy unfair to foreign firms, and freedom of religion.

ddr@donga.com