Summary
14 November 2011
The US President Barack Obama has criticised China for not allowing its currency, the yuan, to rise in value.
The issue has been a sore point between the United States and China for several years.
Reporter
Jon Bithrey
President Obama strongly criticised China.
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Report
President Obama's comments criticising China are amongst his strongest to date. In general the US government has preferred to make its feelings known behind closed doors, cautious about upsetting one of its biggest trading partners.
During a news conference, Mr Obama said many economists believed the yuan was undervalued by between 20 and 25%, making exports to China from the US much more expensive and imports much cheaper.
He said China had to operate by the same rules as everyone else. Earlier China's foreign ministry issued a statement saying President Obama was told by his counterpart, Hu Jintao, that the problems in the American economy wouldn't be solved by an appreciation of the yuan.
President Obama is certainly under pressure on the domestic front. With the American economy still flagging, calls from politicians are mounting for tougher measures to be taken to force China to change its stance.
And with President Obama entering an election year, he may feel now is the time to raise the rhetoric.
John Bithrey, 大象传媒 News
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Vocabulary
- behind closed doors
in private
- upsetting
displeasing
- trading partners
countries that buy and sell goods with each other
- undervalued
been kept at a lower rate in relation to major currencies
- counterpart
in the equivalent post
- an appreciation
an increased valuation
- flagging
performing weakly
- mounting
increasing
- stance
position
- rhetoric
language designed to persuade
