Today President Obama held a joint address with President Hu in China. It was a pretty wide-ranging discussion, from the internet to human rights.
Overall, not much was terribly surprising, though discussions of human rights were pretty tense.
Still, China is censoring the talk:
The report noted that the US president's talk to students on Monday covered a wide range of topics, including cultural exchanges and climate change.
But it did not say that Mr Obama had urged China's leaders to welcome the free flow of information - particularly on the internet.
Yes, a discussion of China's censorship of the internet... led to censorship.
Interestingly enough, to me at least, China actually played part of the address. Fox "News" did not.
The main national television news show on Monday evening hardly mentioned the visit by Mr Obama to China.
The Chinese media showed all of President Obama's favorable comments, while ignoring criticisms.
The president touched on many uncomfortable issues during the joint statement, however subtle it was:
Those documents put forward a simple vision of human affairs, and they enshrine several core principles -- that all men and women are created equal, and possess certain fundamental rights; that government should reflect the will of the people and respond to their wishes; that commerce should be open, information freely accessible; and that laws, and not simply men, should guarantee the administration of justice.
On Iran:
And particularly now when just one individual can detonate a bomb that causes so much destruction, it is more important than ever that we pursue these strategies for peace. Technology is a powerful instrument for good, but it has also given the possibility for just a few people to cause enormous damage. And that's why I'm hopeful that in my meetings with President Hu and on an ongoing basis, both the United States and China can work together to try to reduce conflicts that are taking place.
On censorship:
But I am a big believer in technology and I'm a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information. I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves. That generates new ideas. It encourages creativity.
And so I've always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I'm a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before, and I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet -- or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged.
[...]
So I'm a big supporter of not restricting Internet use, Internet access, other information technologies like Twitter. The more open we are, the more we can communicate. And it also helps to draw the world together.
Fox "News"' Sean Hannity issued a statement: "We're glad to see someone embrace and emulate our strategy from the past eight years. Thanks for watching."
Okay, he didn't really.