Frenemies: Tense Undercurrents For US-China State Dinner
By NANCY BENAC
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's never good when tension is on the dinner menu.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan visit Washington later this week, President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, face the daunting task of trying to throw a warm and inviting dinner party for guests of honor accused of cyberspying on the U.S., trampling human rights and engaging in assertive military tactics.
China, in turn, is miffed at the U.S. for what it says are groundless accusations about hacking, and wants the U.S. to butt out of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Not to mention the Old Faithful of disputes, Taiwan.
Where will all this leave the few hundred guests selected to attend Friday night's lavish state dinner honoring the Chinese president?
Most likely still thrilled to be there, geopolitics be damned.
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