每日英语:Mrs. Obama Takes Stab at Ping-Pong Diplomacy
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama took ping-pong diplomacy to a new level on Friday on her weeklong tour of China as the two countries try a new tactic to build trust in a often tense relationship.
diplomacy:外交 tactic:策略,战略
More than 40 years after the traditional Chinese game restarted the two countries' diplomatic relations, it was again called upon during Mrs. Obama's visit.
Accompanied by her mother and two daughters, the U.S. first lady was escorted around the landmark Forbidden City by Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a meeting experts say is aimed at softening the U.S.'s image here. The group stopped at a prestigious Beijing high school, where Mrs. Obama picked up a ping-pong paddle and volleyed with a student and an instructor as Ms. Peng looked on.
escort:护送,陪同 prestigious:久负盛名的,有威望的 volley:抽射,截击
'My husband plays. He thinks he's better than he really is,' Mrs. Obama told the students and staff gathered to watch.
In the eveining, before a private dinner and performance, Mrs. Obama met for tea with Mrs. Peng and Mr. Xi, who said he thanked the U.S. for sending a 'heavy-weight ambassador.'
The trip, which has been billed by White House advisers as personal and not political, comes at a time when the two countries have plenty of squabbles, from regional territorial disputes to other disagreements over the value of China's currency and human rights. But Mrs. Obama's aides have said she will avoid bringing up any sensitive subjects.
squabble:争吵,口角 territorial:地方的,领土的
Mutual suspicion between the two countries has been deepening, according to a 2013 survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center. Only 37% of people in the U.S. view China favorably, similar to the 40% of Chinese who hold a positive view of the U.S., the survey found, noting that for both countries, the percentages of favorable views have declined since Pew asked the questions in 2008.
Experts on bilateral relations say the meeting between the two first ladies has the potential to be more effective at warming ties than a meeting of their husbands. No other president's spouse has made a solo visit with a Chinese first lady.
bilateral:双方的
Mr. Xi and President Barack Obama 'have jobs and more problems than they know how to handle with really fierce politics in their own countries to deal with,' said James McGregor, Greater China chairman at consultancy APCO Worldwide. 'If their wives can connect as human beings, that's an important channel that brings the human side into that relationship between Zhongnanhai and the White House.'
Experts also expect that the tour will help China's push in recent years to create a softer image overseas. As its economy grows and domestic companies expand globally, China's leaders have begun to recognize the importance of appearing accessible on the international stage.
accessible:可接近的,可理解的
The country has built movie studios in the hopes that its films can rival Hollywood's to reach a global audience and its state-run news agency has expanded its U.S. office in the heart of New York's Times Square. President Xi Jinping has packed his overseas travel schedule in his first year in office.
But despite all its efforts, some say China's attempts have had little apparent success, said Chu Shulong, an expert on international relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing. 'We have been puzzled as to why there has been so little progress,' said Mr. Chu.
The U.S. commands a 63% favorable rating around the world, compared with 50% for China, according to the Pew survey, of around 38,000 people in 39 countries, with respondents citing a widespread distaste for China's military and human-rights policies.
For the U.S., the hope is that the image of the popular Mrs. Obama can help improve its perception in a country where Washington is often viewed as an instigator of conflict set on containing China's rise on the world stage.
Pictures of Mrs. Obama attempting Chinese calligraphy with Ms. Peng and online discussion of fashion picks by the two women go a long way toward creating better ties, said Jin Canrong, a professor of international studies at Beijing's Renmin University.
Others note that China's soft-power battle is likely to be an uphill climb, but say the meeting between the first ladies is nevertheless a vast contrast from 1971, when the U.S. had no formal diplomatic ties with China and relied on the U.S. table tennis delegation to visit the country, coining the term 'ping-pong diplomacy.'
'China is really learning about image making,' said Mr. McGregor. '[For the two presidents] it's hard to be humans with each other. The ideological DNA and the political DNA between the two countries are so different, even if they did like each other, if they look too friendly they'll be bashed by their constituencies. But their wives can be human and get along.'
每日英语:Mrs. Obama Takes Stab at Ping-Pong Diplomacy的更多相关文章
- HDU 2492 Ping pong (树状数组)
题目链接:http://acm.hdu.edu.cn/showproblem.php?pid=2492 Ping pong Problem Description N(3<=N<=2000 ...
- UVALive 4329 Ping pong
Ping pong Time Limit: 3000MS Memory Limit: Unknown 64bit IO Fo ...
- POJ 3928 Ping pong(树状数组)
Ping pong Time Limit: 1000MS ...
- LA4329 Ping pong(树状数组与组合原理)
N (3N20000)ping pong players live along a west-east street(consider the street as a line segment). E ...
- Ping pong
Ping pong Time Limit: 2000/1000 MS (Java/Others) Memory Limit: 32768/32768 K (Java/Others)Total S ...
- POJ 3928 Ping pong
题目链接:http://poj.org/problem?id=3928 乒乓比赛,有N个人参加,输入每个玩家的技能等级,对每个人设置一个特定ID和一个技能值,一场比赛需要两个选手和一个裁判,只有当裁判 ...
- Frequent values && Ping pong
Frequent values 题意是不同颜色区间首尾相接,询问一个区间内同色区间的最长长度. 网上流行的做法,包括翻出来之前POJ的代码也是RMQ做法,对于序列上的每个数,记录该数向左和向右延续的最 ...
- 【暑假】[实用数据结构]UVAlive 4329 Ping pong
UVAlive 4329 Ping pong 题目: Ping pong Time Limit: 3000MS Memory Limit: Unknown 64bit IO Format: % ...
- Ping pong(树状数组经典)
Ping pong Time Limit: 2000/1000 MS (Java/Others) Memory Limit: 32768/32768 K (Java/Others)Total S ...
随机推荐
- eric6中ui文件编译失败,提示找不到puicc5
1解决办法 在setting中——preference 找到qt设置——pyQT工具文件选择更改为: 我的pyuicc5.exe文件在这个目录下 然后右击编译窗口,就成功了. 如果找不到ui文件,在窗 ...
- 《Gradle权威指南》--Android Gradle测试
No1: Android既可以用传统的JUnit测试,也可以用Android的instrument测试. No2: 当我们运行测试的时候,androidTest SourceSet会被构建成一个可以安 ...
- UVa 562 - Dividing coins 均分钱币 【01背包】
题目链接:https://vjudge.net/contest/103424#problem/E 题目大意: 给你一堆硬币,让你分成两堆,分别给A,B两个人,求两人得到的最小差. 解题思路: 求解两人 ...
- Android获取网络状态
Android获取网络状态 学习自 https://developer.android.google.cn/reference/android/net/ConnectivityManager http ...
- iOS 11开发教程(二十)iOS11应用视图美化按钮之设置按钮的状态
iOS 11开发教程(二十)iOS11应用视图美化按钮之设置按钮的状态 在示例2-2中,设置按钮的标题和颜色时,需要对按钮的状态进行设置,表示按钮在某一状态下的标题和标题颜色是什么样子.例如,UICo ...
- COGS.264.数列操作(分块 单点加 区间求和)
题目链接 #include<cmath> #include<cstdio> #include<cctype> #include<algorithm> u ...
- Java并发程序设计(十一)设计模式与并发之生产者-消费者模式
设计模式与并发之生产者-消费者模式 生产者-消费者模式是一个经典的多线程设计模式.它为多线程间的协作提供了良好的解决方案.在生产者-消费者模式中,通常由两类线程,即若干个生产者线程和若干个消费者线程. ...
- CocosCreator小栗子
主要是了解了场景切换的API,见下: 开始场景和结束场景内,按钮挂相同的Btn脚本,主要是切换到场景2中: Btn脚本如下, onLoad:function() { this.node.on('mou ...
- 总结·展望
学了算法也有半年了.也是学期末,确实是该总结了.半年来说不上多努力,毕竟不如高中那时候早晨5点起晚上12点睡,但也确实学到不少东西(尽管眼下来说根本用不到并且我也不确定以为会不会去用.毕竟专业放在那里 ...
- libnids使用 (转)
http://blog.csdn.net/kl222/article/details/6248827---原始链接 Libnids是一个用于网络入侵检测开发的专业编程接口,它使用了Libpcap所以它 ...