In China, Obama Says Twitter Is a Sign of Strong Democracy

Though he has been careful to strike a conciliatory note with Chinese leaders during his trip to Asia, President Obama indirectly urged the government to lift its restrictions on Internet access in the country, the New York Times reports. When a college student asked if he should be allowed to use Twitter freely, Obama said he had never used the social networking service because he is "too clumsy" to type on a phone. He added that, though he sometimes wishes he could control the avalanche of criticism in the United States, he advocates open information everywhere.

"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 said. But, he added, "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."