First lady hosts roundtable

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, second from left, applauds as she and her daughters Malia, third from left, Sasha, fourth from left, and her mother Marian Robinson, second from right, watch a Peking opera performance with a group of American schoolchildren who are visiting China during their spring break, at the Summer Palace in Beijing, Saturday, March 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama told Chinese professors, students and parents on Sunday that she wouldn't have risen to where she was if her parents hadn't pushed for her to get a good education.

Mrs. Obama made her comments before hosting a discussion about education on the third day of her visit to the country aimed at promoting educational exchanges between the U.S. and China.

"Education is an important focus for me. It's personal, because I wouldn't be where I am today without my parents investing and pushing me to get a good education," said Mrs. Obama.

"My parents were not educated themselves, but one of the things they understood was that my brother and I needed that foundation." She said she and her husband wanted as many young people as possible in the United States and the world to have access to education.

She then hosted a roundtable with a handful of Chinese professors, students and parents at an event at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing that was attended by new U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus and closed to media.

Mrs. Obama plans to visit the Great Wall later Sunday and have lunch with her mother and daughters at a restaurant in a former school near a section of the wall.

On Saturday, she gave a speech at China's prestigious Peking University in which she promoted the free flow of information and freedom of speech, the only time during her trip that she has brought up a contentious issue. China routinely filters out information deemed offensive by the government and silences dissenting voices.

Those remarks by Mrs. Obama were absent from China's state media but were circulating in social media, where they were widely praised.