New Characteristics Of First Lady Diplomacy In The Case Of Michelle Obama’s Trip To China In 2014

“First Lady” first appeared in the United States, where the role of first lady has also been paid more attention to.Generally speaking, only when the president pays a state visit to China, does the American first lady also have the chance to visit China. In September, 1995, Hillary Clinton, American first lady at that time, made a single visit to China to attend the UN 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing. However, she represented as the honorary leader of the American delegation and this was not an official visit. In 2010, Laura Bush came to China to propagandize the knowledge about prevention of malaria and HIV/AIDS, which was also not an official visit to China. From March 19 th to March 26 th, 2014, Michelle Obama visited China for one week in three cities, Beijing, Xi’an and Chengdu. This was the first single and official visit to China made by American first lady after the establishment of Sino-US diplomatic relations, which realized the first formal “first lady diplomacy” between the two countries and enriched the form and connotation of communication in the new relationship between the two powers.This article mainly takes Michelle Obama’s visit to China in 2014 as an example and makes an analysis of the new characteristics presented in the "first lady diplomacy" of the new era. Chapter one focuses on the first official visit to China alone made by Michelle Obama, mainly including three aspects, namely, Michelle Obama’s personal charm, the improvement of the role of women as well as the national soft power. Chapter two emphasizes the highlight of Michelle’s visit to China- network diplomacy, which will mainly analyzes the travel logs which Michelle wrote in the White House website, her Weibo diplomacy which reflected the proverb "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" and her interact with the youth of China and the United States. Chapter three mainly discusses Michelle Obama’s respect to Chinese tradition-al culture before and during her visit to China, which embodied through America’s first family’s visit to China, Michelle’s learning of Chinese before her visit to China, and Michelle’s avoidance of politics during her trip to China.Through the analysis and summary, the author thinks that Michelle Obama’s visit to China is a successful "first lady diplomacy" between the first lady of China and the first lady of the United States, injects new vitality to China-US relations, and enriches the form of America’s first lady diplomacy, as well as provides a certain reference for China’s first lady diplomacy.