Legion Troll
A fine upstanding poster
White House officials expect sharp words and the occasional elbow when an American president travels to China. But the reception that Obama got when he arrived Saturday afternoon was bruising, even by Chinese standards.
When Air Force One rolled to a stop, there was no staircase for Obama to disembark. Instead, he emerged from a rarely used door in the belly of the plane.
The reporters who normally cover the president’s movements were kept behind a rope, where they could not see him, prompting an angry exchange between a security official and White House aides.
When Susan Rice, the national security adviser, ducked under the rope, she was immediately stopped by a Chinese official, who heatedly challenged her. Asked later by a reporter what had happened, a diplomatic Ms. Rice said, “They did things that weren’t anticipated.”
The surprises continued at the West Lake State House, where Obama met President Xi Jinping. White House aides, protocol officers and Secret Service agents were stopped at a security checkpoint. A shouting match, in Chinese, broke out over how many Americans should be allowed into the building before Obama’s arrival, and whether their names were on the proper lists.
As the words escalated, there were fears that a fight might erupt. “Calm down, please,” a White House official said.
“The president is arriving here in an hour,” a member of the White House staff said in frustration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/world/asia/obama-xi-staff-shouting-match.html
