Second term US presidents traditionally seek solace on the global stage. Barack Obama is no exception. Following last week’s drubbing in the US midterm elections, he lands in China tomorrow for a summit with Xi Jinping. He is unlikely to find Beijing more pliable than Washington DC. As time goes on, it becomes ever harder to separate his domestic weakness from his global standing. Even the tone is spreading. “US society has grown tired of [Obama’s] banality,” China’s semi-official Global Times said last week.
傳統而言,美國總統會在他們的第二個任期從全球舞臺尋求慰藉。巴拉克?奧巴馬(Barack Obama)也不例外。繼上周在美國中期選舉中落敗之后,奧巴馬本周一抵達中國,他將與習近平會晤。他不太可能發現北京比華盛頓更好說話。隨著時間的推移,奧巴馬在國內的弱勢和他在全球的地位越來越息息相關。甚至現在都已在流傳著這樣的論調。中國半官方的《環球時報》(Global Times)上周表示:美國社會厭倦的是他的“平庸”。