No Mandarin Word for 'Town Hall': Obama Introduces China to U.S. Political Tradition

'The More Freely Information Flows, the Stronger the Society Becomes'

The Internet question came via the U.S. Embassy Web site and read by U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets audience members after speaking at a town hall-style event with...

U.S. President Barack Obama meets audience members after speaking at a town hall-style event with Chinese youth at the Museum of Science and Technology in Shanghai, China, Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. At the Museum of Science and Technology Monday afternoon, President Obama took questions from a docile audience of more than 400 Chinese university students handpicked by officials of eight different Chinese universities.

(Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

"In a country with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers, do you know of the firewall?" Huntsman asked. "And second, 'Should we be able to use Twitter freely?'"

Obama first noted that he personally does not use Twitter -- "My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone" -- but said he is a "big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information."

"I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes," he said. "Because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves. That generates new ideas, it encourages creativity and so I've always been a strong supporter of open Internet use."

Obama called unrestricted Internet access, as in the United States, "a source of strength" and something to be encouraged.

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Seemingly making an attempt at humor that didn't necessarily translate well into Mandarin, Obama said that "I should be honest, as president of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn't flow so freely because then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticizing me all the time."

He then turned to a more serious point, saying, "I think people naturally,...when they're in positions of power sometimes think, 'Oh, how could that person say that about me,' or 'That's irresponsible.'... But the truth is that because in the United States information is free, and I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me, I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear. It forces me to examine what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis to see, am I really doing the very best that I could be doing for the people of the United States."

The president was asked twice to explain why he won the Noble Peace Prize, which he said he received with "great humility." Obama told the students he believes the award was not about him personally, but the change he believes he represents.