Asia trip

In China Obama Touts Freedom Through Twitter, Basketball's Yao Ming And Being The First Black President

Christina Bellantoni | November 16, 2009, 7:55AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama held up Twitter and non-censored technology as a key foundation for a free society while addressing students in China.

Speaking in Shanghai during his 8-day trip through Asia, Obama operated much like he does at his typical U.S. town hall, even going boy-girl, boy-girl as he took questions.

He opened up on winning the Nobel Prize, how he views the conflict in Afghanistan and complimented the students on their English skills.

During the town hall Ambassador Jon Huntsman read the question, submitted through the embassy: "In a country with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers, do you know of the firewall? ... Should we be able to use Twitter freely?"

Obama admitted he had never actually tweeted - despite his campaign and the White House's large presence on Twitter - but said technology helps unite the world.

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