Foreign ministry official says Washington turned down Beijing's proposal to provide rolling red-carpet stairway for US leader when he arrived at Hangzhou airport for G20 summit It was Washington's decision to have US President Barack Obama disembark his plane from a small bare metal stairway instead of the usual rolling red-carpet staircase that state leaders get, a Chinese foreign ministry official has revealed. Speculations have been flying about whether China was deliberately snubbing Obama since media reports on Saturday showed the US leader exiting the Air Force One through the small stairway.