Why is Michelle Obama talking up education to the Chinese?

By Chelsea Sheasley, The Christian Monitor

Chinese students are no slouches. They consistently take top place in international education rankings and student tests, are often signed up for extra courses outside of school, and study for long hours.

US first lady Michelle Obama plays table tennis at the Beijing Normal School, a school that prepares students to attend colleges overseas in Beijing, Friday, March 21, 2014. Andy Wong/AP

So why has Michelle Obama made education the theme of her first visit to China? It seems she’ll be preaching to the choir on this topic on her week long trip, which started today.

Which may be exactly why the White House picked it. “Her focus on people-to-people relations, her focus on education and youth empowerment is one that we believe will resonate in China,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters ahead of the trip.

“I’ll be talking with students about their lives in China and telling them about America and the values and traditions we hold dear. I’ll be focusing in particular on the power and importance of education, both in my own life and in the lives of young people in both of our countries,” Mrs. Obama wrote in a blog post announcing the visit.

Many China watchers in the United States have lamented that the White House says Obama will not discuss politics on the trip. They point to former first ladies Hillary Clinton speaking about human rights while in Beijing in 1995, and Laura Bush calling for China to exert more influence over the military junta in neighboring Myanmar.

“Public diplomacy matters, but it’s no substitute for policy,” wrote Elizabeth Economy of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia Unbound blog. “The First Lady has the opportunity to do much more.”

Ms. Economy suggests that talking visa denials for US journalists, limited market access for American films, and free speech challenges for US universities operating in China all fit within the trip’s education theme.

Read the full article by Chelsea Sheasley, The Christian Monitor.