Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen because “Let’s Move” Michelle is evidently not budging from Washington DC. The reason? Supposedly it’s Sasha’s 12th birthday and Malia’s last week of school.
Cheng Li, an expert in Chinese politics from Washington’s Brookings Institute, said that the Chinese would “readily” accept Michelle’s ‘end of school’ excuse but said her decision not to attend “certainly needs some explanation” because according to Cheng, the Chinese are “extremely sensitive.”
The Obama-Xi visit was supposed to be more of a relationship-building meeting. That’s why Zhang Ming, a political scientist from China’s Renmin University, theorizes, “Maybe Michelle doesn’t like Xi Jinping – or maybe she is just really busy. But being busy shouldn’t be an excuse for missing an event like this.”
Ming is right. Even the Chinese are aware that Michelle Obama regularly jet-sets around the planet and has flown all over the continental United States for frivolous outings like tasting tours, BBQ in Ashville, North Carolina, and making the rounds on the late-night talk show circuit.
Moreover, at the drop of a hat Michelle can find time to attend a Beyoncé concert in New Jersey, Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral in Chicago, and her brother Coach Robinson’s basketball game in Oregon.
Ming predicts that, for whatever reason, Mrs. Obama’s nonattendance won’t “go down very well” in Beijing because some there are interpreting it as a “snub.”
America knows better – Michelle Obama would never give a world leader’s beautiful wife the cold shoulder, so there’s got to be another reason.
So if the Chinese are looking for an explanation, here’s an explanation: Scene-stealer or not, Peng probably isn’t the reason Michelle chose to stay home.
Lately, Ms. Michelle has been a tad testy. The first lady ‘accidentally’ referred to herself as a “single mother,” vacationed solo on an Aspen ski trip, uncharacteristically lost her cool and got all up in the face of a lesbian activist exercising her First Amendment rights at a fundraiser, and is now abandoning “normal diplomatic etiquette” and declining an invitation to take a mini vacay with the hubby in California.
Sorry, but something’s up and it’s probably not the nude, patent leather Kate Middleton-type platform pumps that Jinping’s missus showed off in Mexico.
Michelle Obama is a big star in China, so her absence is a huge insult to Xi as well as the Chinese people. Sending Barack Obama to Rancho Mirage by himself also places the president in an awkward situation, and all of this could have been avoided if Michelle had just agreed to accompany her husband.
That’s why one can’t help but suspect that the first lady skipping the Sunnylands Summit may have more to do with a private marital spat being played out on the world stage than competing with China’s captivating first lady.
