A Brief History of U.S. Presidents in China

Barack Obama, 2009
President Obama embarked on his first trip to China on Nov. 15, making him one of only seven U.S. Presidents to visit the communist nation. Obama has several days of talks ahead of him on topics ranging from climate change to sanctions on Iran, but likely excluding the sensitive issues of human rights and freedom of speech. On that front, his stand-out moment has most likely already occurred. On Nov. 16, the man dubbed "America's first Pacific president" conducted a town hall meeting in Shanghai in front of a handpicked audience. The most controversial question of the night: "Should we be able to use Twitter freely?"

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