Even as President Obama is expected to raise the issues of democratic rights and press freedoms during a trip to China this week, there is a question whether he will hold his own news conference with reporters covering his three-day stop in Beijing.
White House officials accompanying Obama cautioned leaders in Beijing are still balking at the U.S. proposal for a joint news conference with Chinese President Xi. But consultations with Chinese officials continue on the issue, aides said.
"No final word," one senior administration official said.
A separate official stressed the President may go forward with his own news conference, without Xi, a move that may add pressure to already tense U.S.-Chinese relations.
Obama administration officials prepared reporters for the possibility of limited access to Obama during a background briefing with reporters last week. Reservations among Chinese officials were cited as the sole reason for potential press restrictions.
"If you go back to when Chinese leaders have agreed to joint press availabilities, you'll have a very hard time finding one where they have been willing to take questions from the press," said Brookings Institution analyst Ken Lieberthal at a briefing on the President's trip last week.
"So we want it; they don't. They are the host. That's where we end up," Lieberthal added.
Joint news conferences are a norm for U.S. presidents as they travel much of the world. Generally, Obama and foreign leaders will engage in a news conference described as "2+2" with journalists, meaning two questions each from U.S. and foreign reporters. But there are rare exceptions, such as Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice raised the issue of press access with her Beijing counterparts in the weeks leading to the President's visit, which will include a formal bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi at a summit of APEC leaders.
The President is scheduled to deliver a speech to the CEOs gathered at the APEC summit Monday.
Obama and Xi will have "candid and in-depth conversations" on a range of issues, Rice told reporters last week. In addition to their meeting, both leaders will deliver statements to the media. But the possibility of taking questions remains the sticking point.
Press freedom and human rights in China remain a major concern for the United States, White House officials said. Recent democracy protests in Hong Kong have only served to elevate the issue for Obama, aides said.
"We've been very clear about our views and concerns about Hong Kong and other aspects of human rights and civil liberties in China, as we have been elsewhere," Rice said.
Unlike other recent trips abroad for Obama, he is not scheduled to meet with human rights activists or engage in other "person to person" events while in China. He is on a tight time line, administration officials explained.
Aides said the President will hold a town hall with young Burmese in Myanmar, during the second stop of Obama's three-nation tour which ends at the G-20 summit in Australia later this week.
The threat posed by Chinese hackers to U.S. businesses will also figure prominently in talks between the two leaders.
"With respect to China, clearly the issues of cybersecurity will be prominent on our bilateral agenda. This is a source of grave concern to the United States," Rice said Friday.
"We have reiterated on every occasion the fact that we oppose any efforts -- official or unofficial -- to engage in cyberespionage for commercial gain or other purposes," she added.
Obama and Xi have fielded questions from reporters in the past, but on U.S. soil.
At a joint news conference in California last year, Xi was pressed by an American reporter on the issue of cybersecurity. Xi responded China has its own concerns with hackers.
"China is a victim of cyber attacks, and we hope that earnest measures can be taken to resolve this matter," Xi said last year.
