Obama chides China's Li over Syria vote

Visiting Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping has been chided by US President Barack Obama over his country's decision to join Russia in a veto of a UN Security Council resolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Obama's firm message on Tuesday to the Chinese vice-president on trade, currency, human rights and global issues such as Syria was notable, given that meetings during the trip were previewed as essentially sizing-up sessions.

Xi has, however, won an extraordinary welcome across Washington in a finely scripted opening to one of the world's most important relationships.

He got a lengthy audience with Obama, an elaborate reception at the State Department, full military honours at the Pentagon, a gathering with chief business executives and a dinner at Vice President Joe Biden's house

Biden, in remarks at the State Department lunch, chided China over another sharp policy difference - its decision to join Russia last week in a veto of a UN Security Council resolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta alluded to strained military ties as Washington reasserts itself in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of China's buildup.

He told Xi the United States sought to work with China "to build an open, transparent and inclusive regional security order." Xi called for a "cooperative partnership."

Chinese media had mostly followed the government's lead in the run-up to Xi's visit by playing down bilateral tensions. But it was still early morning in Beijing when Xi held talks in Washington, so it was unclear how fully the U.S. criticism about trade, human rights and Syria would be aired there.

Chinese officials have carefully choreographed Xi's U.S. trip as a rite of passage in a once-in-a-decade leadership change. He is expected to become head of the ruling Communist Party later this year as a prelude to the presidency.

US officials hope the talks will help them gauge the priorities Xi will pursue. He is less stiff in public than the man he will succeed as president, Hu Jintao, but his views remain largely opaque to policymakers in Washington.

Xi is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit since Obama launched a new US "pivot" toward Asia in November to counterbalance China's increasing assertiveness in the region.

Like Obama, Xi will not want to come across as a pushover in the face of US pressure. He has to play to a powerful Communist Party apparatus and nationalist sentiment at home.

Xi's tour will take him from Washington to a farm in Iowa to Los Angeles as he looks to ease Americans' worries about China. He is a Communist Party "princeling," the son of a revolutionary leader, but also fond of Hollywood war dramas.

Although Obama's aides see the visit yielding no breakthroughs, the United States and China agreed on Tuesday to open talks on setting guidelines for export-credit financing.

Biden told his Chinese counterpart, "The American people are looking forward to getting to know you."

Xi may have his work cut out for him. According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, 52 percent of Americans had an unfavorable impression of China, while 37 percent saw the rising Asian power favorably.

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