Washington Post reporters Juliet Eilperin and Krissah Thompson quoted Dr. Katherine Jellison, Professor and Chair of History, on a story about Michelle Obama’s upcoming trip to China.
When Laura Bush ventured to the Thailand-Burma border six years ago, the first lady accused China of not doing enough to pressure the brutal Burmese regime. When Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Beijing in 1995, she delivered a blunt assessment of China’s human rights record that reverberated as far away as South Africa.
But as Michelle Obama prepares to journey to China next week with her mother and daughters in tow, one thing is clear: The current first lady does not plan to deliver a similar performance.
“While I personally might like her to engage in issues such as human rights, the timing probably isn’t right in terms of world politics,” said Katherine Jellison, a professor of women’s studies and history at Ohio University. “With the crisis in Ukraine and current controversy about her husband’s handling of that situation, it is probably not the right time for the first lady to be causing other potential controversies on the world scene.”
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