As Obama was preparing to attend the G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, US officials balked at requiring President Obama to use a staircase provided by the Chinese to disembark his airplane instead of the set of rolling stairs flown in by the US, leading some to wonder if the gesture was simple oversight or a subtle sign of disrespect.
Another problem on the tarmac arose after National Security Adviser Susan Rice was blocked by A Chinese security official who was later caught on cellphone yelling "This is our country, this is our airport," to a presidential aide as she was attempting to corral members of the press.
Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman responded to the allegations saying, "I think if only the American group had respected the working arrangements first made with China then this wouldn't have occurred," adding, "You saw that all the other country leaders all used the stairs that China provided. So why was it only the United States that didn't? These were the stairs the United States requested."
Obama downplayed the incident, asking people not to “overcrank” the exchange, explaining that there are often security issues when a US president visits foreign nations primarily due to the size of his entourage.
"Part of it is we also have a much bigger footprint than a lot of other countries," he said before the G20 opening ceremony. "We’ve got a lot of planes and a lot of helicopters and a lot of cars and a lot of guys, and if you’re a host country, sometimes it may feel a little bit much."
Obama also pointed out that countries sometimes have similar problems when they visit the US. "And, in fairness, when delegations travel to the United States, sometimes there are issues about our security procedures and protocols that they're aggravated with but don't always get reported on."
Hua also feels the incident was overblown, claiming that China had no intention to slight Obama or the US. She also criticized journalists for not staying in their designated area to photograph Obama, as Chinese photographers had done.
