A Chinese official confronted US President Barack Obama’s national security adviser on the tarmac on Saturday prompting the Secret Service to intervene, an unusual altercation as China implements strict controls ahead of a big summit.

The stakes are high for China to pull off a trouble-free G20 summit of the world’s top economies, its highest profile event of the year, as it looks to cement its global standing and avoid acrimony over a long list of tensions with Washington.

Shortly after Obama’s plane landed in the eastern city of Hangzhou, a Chinese official attempted to prevent his national security adviser Susan Rice from walking to the motorcade as she crossed a media rope line, speaking angrily to her before a Secret Service agent stepped between the two.

Rice responded but her comments were inaudible to reporters standing underneath the wing of Air Force One. It was unclear if the official, whose name was not immediately clear, knew that Rice was a senior official and not a reporter.

The same official shouted at a White House press aide who was instructing foreign reporters on where to stand as they recorded Obama disembarking from the plane.

“This is our country. This is our airport,” the official said in English, pointing and speaking angrily with the aide.

The US aide insisted that the journalists be allowed to stand behind a rope line, and they were able to record the interaction and Obama’s arrival uninterrupted, typical practice for US press traveling with the president.

A White House spokesman and China’s Foreign Ministry both did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

The altercation occurred out of sight of Obama, who greeted ambassadors and other officials before the presidential motorcade pulled away with Rice.

The incident is an illustration of the image-conscious ruling Communist Party’s efforts to control the media as its seeks to orchestrate what it hopes will be a flawless event.

World leaders arrive for the G20 Summit in Hangzhou

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Reuters, MCI

China has taken extensive security measures in preparation for the G20 summit opening on Sunday.

On Saturday, many roads and shops in Hangzhou were deserted and shuttered in the usually bustling city with a population of 9 million.

The Chinese government has broad control over domestic media and prevents many foreign media outlets from publishing in the country, including by blocking their websites.

Obama has raised issues of freedom of the press on previous visits to China, which insists that media must follow the party line and promote “positive propaganda”.

Foreign reporters are often physically prevented from covering sensitive stories, but altercations involving foreign government officials are rare.

Rice met Chinese dissidents before her last trip to China in late July, when she held talks with President Xi Jinping and other senior officials.

HONG KONG – A new generation of young Hong Kong politicians advocating a break from Beijing looked set to become lawmakers for the first time Monday in the biggest poll since mass pro-democracy rallies in 2014.

A record 2.2 million people voted in the city-wide legislative election which ended in the early hours of Monday and saw activists who support Hong Kong’s independence from China standing for the first time.

It comes as fears grow that Beijing is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city in a range of areas, from politics to education and media.

In a landmark victory, at least three of a handful of young campaigners calling for much more distance from Beijing were forecast to win seats with 90 per cent of the vote counted.

Among them is Nathan Law, 23, leader of the 2014 “Umbrella Movement” rallies, who is guaranteed a seat after coming second in his constituency behind a pro-Beijing candidate.

Law and his new party Demosisto are calling for a referendum on independence, emphasising Hong Kongers’ right to choose.

“I think Hong Kongers really wanted change,” Law said, celebrating his win.

“Young people have a sense of urgency when it comes to the future.” Law will now take up a seat in the Legislative Council (LegCo), Hong Kong’s lawmaking body.

Most established pro-democracy politicians do not support the notion of independence and there were concerns in the democratic camp that new activists would split the vote, triggering overall losses.

If the democrats lose four seats, they will forfeit the one-third voting bloc they need to veto bills, stacking the already skewed legislature even more in favour of Beijing.

However, early results showed the democrats are likely to hold on to that veto power.

Hong Kong elections 2016

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AFP

It is as good a result as the democrats could hope for, given that the framework of LegCo favours Beijing.

The structure of the council makes it almost impossible for the democracy camp to take a majority as 30 of the council’s 70 seats are elected by special interest groups representing a range of businesses and social sectors. Those seats go predominantly to pro-Beijing candidates.

Fears that Hong Kong’s freedoms are disappearing were fanned after five city booksellers known for salacious titles about Beijing politicians disappeared, resurfacing in detention on the mainland.

That fuelled the fire of the “localist” movement, which grew out of the failure of the 2014 rallies to win political reform pushing for more distance from Beijing.

It saw the emergence of young campaigners demanding outright independence for Hong Kong – a subject previously taboo.

Hong Kong was handed back to China by Britain in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement intended to protect its freedoms and partial autonomy for 50 years. However, many young campaigners believe that deal has failed.

Pro-democracy campaigners with megaphones urged voters to get to the polls Sunday to prevent the LegCo swinging further towards Beijing.

At some polling stations there were snaking queues until until 2:30 am (1830 Sunday GMT) – four hours later than the scheduled cut-off time – with a turnout of almost 60 per cent of 3.7 million voters.

That compares with 53 per cent in the last LegCo elections in 2012.

8-year-old Xu Ziqi is to perform Me and my motherland with renowned baritone Liao Changyong at the G20 Summit evening gala at West Lake tonight.

Xu was born in 2008 and is a second grader in Hangzhou.

Li Jun, Xu’s mother, is a little surprised “at the chance that came so suddenly.”

“On Aug 13, I received a call from a teacher at Hangzhou Youth Activity Center and they asked Ziqi to go for an audition to perform at the Summit. About twenty girls attended the audition, most of them having previously won awards at various musical competitions in Hangzhou. Ziqi was the youngest.

At the end, Ziqi and two other girls were asked to prepare Me and my motherland and attend the final round of auditions on Aug 15. She had never heard of this song before and was only given a day to prepare, so it was quite a challenge for her,” Li recalled.

When the mother arrived at the final audition with her daughter, she was even more surprised to see the director of the evening gala – award-winning Chinese director Zhang Yimou.

The three girls performed Me and my motherland with the backup of an orchestra. In the end, Zhang selected Xu.

Zhou Yi, a music teacher at the public school Xu attends, is confident her student will perform outstandingly.

“Xu Ziqi has a solid background in singing. I always ask her to demonstrate for everyone during our music classes. Whenever we need a lead singer, Ziqi was always a compelling choice,” said Zhou.

Chinese director Zhang Yimou (left) and Xu Ziqi. Photo: Weibo

Not only does Xu excel in vocals, she is well-rounded and an A student in drawing, Chinese and mathematics.

“Ever since Ziqi started to attend kindergarten at age three, we enrolled her in many classes, including performing, dancing, gymnastics and painting. She especially loves to sing and dance, so we enrolled her in individual lessons, which she still attends. She is also experienced with the stage having performed on several hundred occasions. Some are competitive in nature, and some are not,” added Li.

Tian Yimiao, associate professor in music composition at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, said children are often selected to perform because of their beautiful crystal clear vocals.

“The voices of children are clean and sweat, with the connotation of sanctity, beauty and peace, giving listeners a serene, relaxed and pleasant feeling,” said Tian.

“Children are often paired with basses. This time, it’s with a baritone. They are not on the same voice part as the child’s voice floats above that of a baritone. And with the added orchestral performance, it is a very creative combination that is worth looking forward to,” added Tian.