Summit to set sunny tone for times ahead (2)

Obviously, such people are backed or being used by interest groups or lobbyists trying to benefit from the hijacking of the summit's agenda. Some in the mainstream media, which have been increasingly catering to sensationalism, can be seen as one such group.

In his book, Obama and China's Rise, Jeffrey Bader, senior director of Asian Affairs, US National Security Council, from 2009 to 2011, has blasted the media for their coverage of Obama's visit to China in 2009. "The Western media coverage of the events damaged both the trip and the administration's ability to manage China policy," Bader has written.

While the White House regarded Obama's visit to China as a success, the media tried to portray him as being weak in front of Chinese leaders, Bader says. Former US assistant secretary for East Asia Kurt Campbell, too, has said that whenever US leaders visit Asia, the media interpret their visits as one of confrontations with China.

While Obama gave a lot of importance to media coverage during his first term, Bader said on Tuesday that the nice thing about being re-elected US president is that you can have a somewhat thick skin in the second term and ignore domestic pressure on minor issues and concentrate on more important, longer-term issues.

This is exactly what the Sunnylands summit is about: looking at an important and long-term relationship of cooperation as well as competition.