- Quote :
- The US President Barack Obama has criticised China for not allowing its currency, the yuan, to rise in value.
The issue has been a sore point between the United States and China for several years.
Reporter
Jon Bithrey
President Obama's comments criticising China are amongst his strongest to date. In general the US government has preferred to make its feelings known
behind closed doors, cautious about
upsetting one of its biggest
trading partners.
During a news conference, Mr Obama said many economists believed the yuan was
undervalued by between 20 and 25%, making exports to China from the US much more expensive and imports much cheaper.
He said China had to operate by the same rules as everyone else. Earlier China's foreign ministry issued a statement saying President Obama was told by his
counterpart, Hu Jintao, that the problems in the American economy wouldn't be solved by
an appreciation of the yuan.
President Obama is certainly under pressure on the domestic front. With the American economy still
flagging, calls from politicians are
mounting for tougher measures to be taken to force China to change its
stance.
And with President Obama entering an election year, he may feel now is the time to raise the
rhetoric.
John Bithrey, BBC News
behind closed doors
in private
upsetting
displeasing
trading partners
countries that buy and sell goods with each other
undervalued
been kept at a lower rate in relation to major currencies
counterpart
in the equivalent post
an appreciation
an increased valuation
flagging
performing weakly
mounting
increasing
stance
position
rhetoric
language designed to persuadeTOPIC :
Obama criticises China over currency SOURCE :
Linguistic Studies ** http://languages.forumactif.org/