Xi Jinping's Washington trip overshadowed again as US House Speaker John Boehner steps down after 25 years in Congress
First it was Pope Francis, then it was John Boehner taking up US media attention during President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States last week.
On Friday morning, just as US President Barack Obama was welcoming Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan to Washington DC, House Speaker Boehner announced that he was resigning from Congress.
News networks that were expected to broadcast live a joint press conference by the two presidents at the White House switched to airing Boehner’s resignation speech.
At the press conference, in which two reporters from each country were allowed to ask questions, both US reporters asked Obama about Boehner’s resignation, pairing them with other questions related to cybersecurity and the Chinese economy’s downturn.
“Everyone would kill me if I don’t ask what’s your reaction to House Speaker John Boehner’s decision to resign,” the first reporter said.
Obama took his time to answer the questions about Boehner while Xi listened, facing his senior officials sitting opposite in the front row and with loud protests in the background.
Read more: Full coverage of Xi Jinping's US trip
Earlier in the week, the pope was the main source of American attention as Xi arrived to start his own official US trip.
Some observers and members of the Chinese delegation had been confident that once Xi met Obama in Washington, the focus would shift to Sino-US relations.
Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Xi’s visit was overshadowed to some extent by the pope and Boehner.
“I think probably the only thing China was disappointed in and that was beyond their control was the comparison between the pope’s visit and Xi Jinping’s visit. But that was inevitable,” Glaser said.
“It was certainly beyond China’s control and they knew for a long time that Xi’s first state visit will be back to back with the pope’s.”
