Obama tells Chinese, freedoms are 'universal rights'

SHANGHAI — Pressing for freedoms on China's own turf, President Barack Obama said Monday that individual expression is not an American ideal but a universal right that should be available to all.

The president made his comments during a town hall meeting at which he was introduced by former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador to China. Huntsman made his introduction to the Chinese students in both Mandarin and English before turning the podium over to Obama, who spoke for nearly an hour in English.

In his first presidential trip to Asia, Obama lauded cooperative relations with China but sought to send a clear message to his tightly controlled host country. Just as Obama said few problems can be solved unless U.S. and China work together, he prodded China to accept what he called "universal rights."

"We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation," Obama said at a town hall at a museum here, believed to be the first such forum held by a U.S. president on Chinese soil. "But we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation."

He added: "These freedoms of expression, and worship, of access to information and political participation — we believe they are universal rights. They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation."

Obama sought to find a political balance with China, addressing long-standing U.S. concerns about human rights but extending his hand to a critically important partner on economic and security matters.

"More is gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide," he said in his opening statement.

In one form or another, though, the theme of free expression kept emerging.

"I'm a big supporter of non-censorship," Obama said in the course of answering one question about Internet usage. Given where Obama was speaking, such a comment was pointed. China has the world's largest population of Internet users — and the world's most extensive system of Web monitoring and censorship.

With a smile, Obama said he has never used the popular social networking site Twitter. But he broadly defended unrestricted Internet access as "a source of strength." And he said the free flow of information, including criticisms of his presidency, has helped by forcing him to consider other opinions.

The town hall was considered a signature event of Obama's weeklong trip to Asia. He was to end his day in Beijing in meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.