Word to the wise on organising a Chinese leader’s US visit

Let me begin by wishing those planning Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US on September 24 the best of luck, something I didn’t have in 2006, when president George W. Bush invited president Hu Jintao to the White House. After you read this, you may wonder how I was able to keep my job. All I can say is, Bush was a very forgiving boss.

This story begins in January 2006. I had just been elevated from China director to acting special assistant to the president and senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council. My predecessor Michael Green had returned to his position as a professor at Georgetown University. To say I was wet behind the ears is an understatement.

As 2006 began, Beijing was pressing for a state visit by Hu to Washington. Bush had made a highly successful visit to China just two months earlier as part of a four-nation Asian tour. China was playing a key role as host of the six-party talks on North Korea and not standing in the way of the war on terrorism.

On that trip, the US president had made his strongly held views on religious tolerance clear not by haranguing Beijing but by attending a Protestant church service. He also participated in an extraordinary mountain bike ride with young Chinese Olympic aspirants that was heralded in the Chinese press and supplanted the boring men-in-suits images so typical of US-China summits.