She’s busy.
Michelle Obama will blow off a highly anticipated meeting between her and popular Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan. She’s going to stay home with the kids.
The Telegraph reported:
However, those hopes suffered an early setback on Wednesday when the White House announced that Michelle Obama would not be joining her husband in attending the two-day meeting with China’s new president and his wife.
Her office cited domestic responsibilities for not attending – it is the last week of the school year for the Obamas’ daughters Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, – but the move leaves China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan, to attend the summit without her American counterpart.
China experts immediately warned that Mrs Obama’s decision to stay in Washington could have an unwelcome chilling effect on a summit that White House officials have billed as an “unprecedented” opportunity to heal divisions between the world two biggest economies.
Her absence is likely to limit Ms Peng’s role at the two-day California meeting and may be interpreted by the face-conscious Chinese bureaucrats and public as a deliberate snub, both US and Chinese analysts said.
Michelle Obama’s Mirror discusses the background behind Mrs. Obama’s decision.
