The Irony is Thick

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President Obama is on a seven day tour of China; one of his stops included a town hall style event with 400 students held in Shanghai, China.  While President Obama was in Shanghai, Beijing television broadcasted a program about Obama’s declining popularity at home in the United States.  Why would Chinese television run negative programs about a visiting President?

Additionally, since most Chinese citizens were unable to attend the town hall event, they were told they could access the town hall from the White House’s website, but they were greeted with connection problems due to the Chinese internet firewall.  It was reported that only around 7,000 people in China managed to access the video (according to ConnectSolutions, the firm that helped the State Department organize the webcast).  A multitude of those who tried reported connection problems with the website, not being able to load audio and/or sound of the event.

Here’s the irony: unlike Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, during their visits their remarks were broadcast live with more access than President’s Obama hour long question and answer town hall.  Also, Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush were vocal about criticizing China for detaining dissidents and suppressing freedom of religion in Tibet, while President Obama has avoided any potential controversial statements against China.