Obama plays down confrontation with China over his plane’s stairs

China’s handling of US President Obama’s arrival for the Group of 20 summit meeting in Hangzhou has created a narrative that the Chinese snubbed the American president, according to New York Times. 

Some Beijing-controlled news outlets are pushing back, fanning nationalist anger by accusing the Americans of arrogance in the squabble.
The reality, American officials and diplomats familiar with China say, is both simpler and more complicated.

The United States military had flown in a set of rolling air stairs, as it does on all of Obama’s foreign trips, and the White House had received Chinese approval to use the equipment. But before Obama’s arrival, a senior administration official said, the Chinese suddenly reversed themselves. 

The Americans were willing to use a Chinese stairway, this official said, but the Chinese insisted that the stairs be taken to the plane by a local driver, who the Americans said could not communicate with the White House team about even the simplest tasks. So the White House demanded that he be replaced with an English-speaking driver, a request the Chinese refused.

As Air Force One was landing, the Chinese relented and told the Americans they could use their own stairs. But by then, officials said, there was no time to make a switch.

So the White House decided to forgo the main doorway in favor of a smaller exit in the belly of the aircraft equipped with its own foldout stairs. Obama generally uses that door only when Air Force One arrives in places, like Afghanistan, with high security concerns.

Clashes between China and the United States over the security and staging of Mr. Obama’s visits have been a feature of every trip he has made here since November 2009, according to the newspaper.

Source: MENA