China's president-in-waiting heads to Washington for a visit crucial to both nations

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/chinas-president-in-waiting-heads-to-washington-for-a-visit-crucial-to-both-nations/2012/02/10/gIQAFiYg9Q_story.html?hpid=z2

According to the article, China's president-in-waiting, Xi Jinping will start his visit in the United States today. As an international student from China, it is interesting to see how American journalists view China.

I found a value claim, that is, Xi Jinping is regarded as more self-confident and gregarious than President Hu Jintao. This value claim compares two significant political figures directly, which I never saw in Chinese mainstream newspaper. It may cause trouble for Chinese journalists, if they make such a claim obviously, since President Hu is still in power. However, some journalists may include their opinions rather implicitly.

Another claim I found controversial is there's little doubt that the United States and China have entered a rough period, with tensions over China's economic policies and its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, among other issues. What I read from Chinese newspaper is that the issue of South China Sea is definitely not related to invasion or ambitions, it is a protective strategy. This claim seems to be a fact claim, but is it really true? Like two sides of a coin, there are opposite views. The author also mentions that the Obama administration has alarmed China American shift of military resources toward Asia. From my perspective, the U.S. government is rather busy, meddling with business in Asia, in the mid-east area, in Africa, and probably all over the world. I also read some comments below. Some people just wrote the military expense should be reduced to recover economy.

The author describes the U.S. and China as two of the world's most powerful nations at the very beginning of the article. Thanks for the author, giving China such a high status. However, as a Chinese, I know that is obviously not true. America is the super power in the world now. However, China still belongs to a developing country. There is a long way for China to improve its integrated strength. This value claim is too arbitrary.