Post-Xi visit, wide gulf remains between US and China

IMMEDIATELY after his state visit to the US, China's leader Xi Jinping headed for New York, as did his host, Barack Obama. Both men, and other world leaders, were in the city to address the United Nations General Assembly, which is marking its 70th anniversary. At the state dinner on Sept 25, Mr Obama and Mr Xi both offered toasts to the friendship of their two peoples, apparently with great sincerity, with Mr Obama calling on the two countries to "work together, like fingers on the same hand".

And yet, only three days earlier, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace had released a major study, Perception and Misperception in American and Chinese Views of the Other, which showed that the people of the two countries were far from being close friends.

The key finding was that there are "substantial gaps in American and Chinese perceptions of the basic traits and characteristics" of the other. "In general," the study concluded, "mistrust of the external world on the Chinese side stems from educational socialisation and media messaging." This is academic jargon for saying that mistrust of the US by the Chinese people is the result of Chinese government propaganda in schools and media censorship.