胡锦涛主席访美专题报道

Demonstrators Mass for Bush-Hu Meeting
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

Thursday, April 20, 2006


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(04-20) 06:08 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --


While President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao hoped their discussions inside the White House would cool tensions over a yawning U.S.-China trade gap, demonstrators massed outside Thursday to protest Beijing's human rights policies.


The talks between Bush and Hu, who was visiting the Washington for the first time as China's leader, were expected to produce little in the way of substance on the trade dispute and no breakthroughs on the major irritant ― China's tightly controlled currency.


After two days spent wooing American business leaders in Washington state, Hu arrived Wednesday night in Washington for the half-day summit for what were expected to be frank discussions about America's $202 billion trade deficit with China, the biggest ever recorded with a single country.


That imbalance has spurred calls in Congress to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese products unless China halts trade practices that critics contend are unfair and have contributed to the loss of nearly 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs since 2001.


The visit attracted high-profile attention both inside and outside the White House gates. The spiritual movement Falun Gong, condemned by the Chinese government as an evil cult, gathered hundreds of demonstrators on street corners near the White House in the early morning. Marchers banged gongs, chanted and waved American and Chinese flags. Banners denounced Hu as a "Chinese dictator" responsible for genocide and other "crimes in Chinese labor camps and prisons."


The Chinese government had its say as well. In a median in front of the Chinese embassy, the Falun Gong protesters that are nearly always there had been replaced by Chinese supporters holding huge red-and-yellow banners offering to "warmly welcome" Hu on his American visit.


There were some obvious signs that the summit was not considered on the U.S. side as a "state visit." Though the Chinese flag flew over Blair House, the official guest quarters for visiting dignitaries across the street from the White House, lamp posts surrounding the compound were bare of the usual pairing of flags from the United States and its guest country.


In addition to trade, Bush was to raise a number of other issues with Hu, including a bid for China's help in dealing with current nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran, complaints about China's human rights record and questions over China's growing military strength and whether it poses a threat to Taiwan.


The two sides have even disputed what to call the visit, with the Chinese insisting that it is a "state visit," which was the designation former President Jiang Zemin received in 1997, or an "official visit," the designation the Bush administration is using for Hu's trip.


While Hu was not receiving a black-tie state dinner, he was being greeted by a 21-gun salute on the South Lawn of the White House and a formal lunch for China's first family, with music supplied by a Nashville bluegrass band.


For his part, Hu has carried on a tradition started by Deng Xiaoping on his first visit to the United States in 1979 of courting American business executives in recognition of the fact that the United States is China's biggest overseas market.


Hu had dinner at the home of Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates on Tuesday and on Wednesday he received a warm welcome from employees at Boeing Co.'s massive Everett, Wash., facilities.


Last week, a contingent of more than 200 Chinese trade officials and business executives toured the United States, signing sales contracts for $16.2 billion in American goods, including 80 Boeing jetliners, all in an effort to show that China is trying to bring down the massive trade gap between the two nations.


White House officials said in advance of Thursday's meetings that they did not expect any major announcements on currency or other trade issues, noting that China did make several commitments last week such as requiring that all personal computers sold in China be loaded with legal software and agreeing to drop a ban on imports of U.S. beef.


Some small progress may be made in the area of energy, where China's rapidly growing economy has increased global demand for crude oil, pushing prices higher, and sent China rushing to lock up sources of supply in such questionable areas as Sudan, Burma and Iran.


But without movement on the currency problem, congressional critics are likely to be unimpressed with the results of the meeting.


___

A rising power comes calling

Thursday, April 20, 2006


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THAT FAMOUS phrase-maker, President Bush, had it about right, when describing relations with China as "very positive and complex.''

The two nations are -- for now -- getting along. China's making nice by buying 80 Boeing jets. It has promised Microsoft that it will cut down on rampant software piracy, which Beijing has allowed to become an industry.

But as both Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao know, the job of crafting a relationship is complex from there on out. In a White House sit-down today, the two can pick among dozens of issues to debate.

There's a ballooning $200 billion trade debt papered over by Chinese lending, currency pricing and a competitive hunt for oil, not to mention jumpy domestic politics on both sides. The list runs out the Oval Office door: human rights, Taiwan, Internet censorship, global warming, Chinese foot-dragging in Sudan's Darfur region and even the grisly business of "transplant tourism,'' which allows wealthy Americans to buy healthy Chinese organs.

The visit isn't likely to produce banner announcements. The White House is even playing down the ceremonial trappings, hosting Hu at a fancy lunch, but not a tux-and-toasts state dinner. This low-key handling lowers expectations, but also reminds China that relations are no where near the good-friend level.

It's a realistic start, given the deep divide between the two nations. The United States, the world's lone superpower for a decade, is facing a rising challenger in China. Beijing's economy continues to climb, while its military steadily upgrades and industrial planners work to nip away at America's edge in technology.

For Bush, there are many constraints built into this rivalry. Washington, for all its dislike of China, needs Beijing: To buy our debt to keep a cheap-import economy rolling; to talk to North Korea because its crazy leader won't listen; and to stick with us on containing Iran, despite China's $70 billion oil deal with the mullahs.

On photo-op tactics, Hu is running strong on this trip. He landed in Seattle and underlined recent deals with Boeing and Microsoft that made a dent in a lopsided trade deficit. The quiet, composed Hu even slipped in a Starbucks joke and dinner with Bill Gates.

Do all of China's advantages put it in charge? Hardly. Its factories need a smooth-running U.S. market for its goods. China also needs cooperation in the chessboard game of oil politics, as it hunts for energy to fuel its sizzling economy. China's inner circle badly wants to be respected as a "responsible stakeholder'' in trade circles, as U.S. diplomats have urged.

If the trip serves to underscore the wide disparities between the two countries, it should also bring up the connections. It's not the same as the Soviet-versus-the-West days, when links were minor and the economies distinct. China and the United States are profoundly tied together.

It may be the strangest standoff in history: two political rivals who share the same world economy. That could be a start in settling everything else.

Hu pushes China-US trade


Thursday 20 April 2006, 14:45 Makka Time, 11:45 GMT  


Hu's visit comes amid escalating tensions over trade



Related:
Chinese economy speeds up further
EU may curb Chinese textile imports



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China's president has urged US politicians not to let trade disputes damage Sino-US relations, arguing that China's rapid growth has saved American consumers billions of dollars and created millions of US jobs.





"China's development will present enormous business opportunities to the United States and other countries," Hu Jintao told a meeting of business and political leaders in Seattle on Wednesday.

His comments came before talks in Washington with George Bush, the US president.

The meeting at the White House on Thursday is expected to focus on economic tensions between the two countries.

Speaking in Seattle before flying on to Washington, Hu said it was "hardly avoidable" that trade frictions would occur given the size and rapid growth of the countries' two-way trade. But, he said, differences should not be politicised.






"We should properly address these problems through consultation and dialogue on an equal footing as we work to expand our business ties."




Currency row



Hu's four-day visit to the US comes amid brewing trade disputes between the two countries, primarily over the valuation of China's currency and the massive US trade deficit with China.



Washington believes that China's currency, the yuan, is undervalued by as much as 40%, giving Chinese exporters unfair advantages and creating deep imbalances in global trade.



Earlier this week a top US official criticised China's progress on the currency issue as "agonisingly slow", saying Bush was certain to raise it when the two leaders meet at the White House.




China says it will increase the
flexibility of the yuan


However, US analaysts say they are expecting a breakthrough on the exchange rate issue during the meeting between the two leaders.



Rather, they were hoping for slow, steady progress in the months ahead.



In Seattle on Wednesday, Hu said he wanted to make foreign-exchange markets more efficient.



But he said China was not ready for a drastic change in the value of the yuan.



"China will continue to firmly promote financial reforms, improve the renminbi exchange rate-setting mechanism, develop the foreign exchange market, and increase the flexibility of the renminbi exchange rate," he said.



More competitive



Revaluing the yuan is a US demand which officials say will make American exports more competitive against cheaper Chinese products.



Revaluation would also reduce China's bilateral trade surplus with the US, which last year reached $202 billion.



Hu outlined steps China is taking to address US concerns, including boosting domestic demand, further opening the Chinese market to US companies, and encouraging Chinese firms to invest in the US market.

Bush, China's president to discuss trade deficit
Last Updated Thu, 20 Apr 2006 09:58:59 EDT
CBC News
U.S. President George W. Bush is meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Washington, where the leaders will discuss the two countries' enormous trade gap.


INDEPTH: China


U.S. President George W. Bush welcomes Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House. (CBC)
Chinese President Hu Jintao has been in the United States for two days, speaking with business leaders in Washington state

Home >> China
UPDATED: 07:26, April 21, 2006
Hu, Bush stress importance of enhanced cooperation
     


Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President George W. Bush stressed Thursday the importance to reinforce cooperation between the two countries.

"Enhanced interactions and cooperation between China and the United States serve the interests of our two peoples and are conducive to world peace and development," Hu said at a welcoming ceremony held by U.S. President George W. Bush on the White House South Lawn.

Hu said "the mutually beneficial and win-win China-U.S. economic cooperation and trade benefit our two peoples and promote the economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large."

Economic cooperation and trade between the two countries "have become an important foundation for China-U.S. relations," Hu said.

Hu urged the two sides to view and approach bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective.

The Chinese president said that China and the United States, as two countries of significant influence in the world, "share important common strategic interests in a wide range of areas, including economic cooperation and trade, security, public health, energy and environmental protection, and on major international and regional issues."

"We should, on the basis of the principles set forth in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, respect each other as equals and promote closer exchanges and cooperation," said Hu. "This will enable us to make steady progress in advancing constructive and cooperative China-U.S. relations and bring more benefits to our two peoples and the people of the world."

Bush, for his part, said, "As stakeholders in the international system, our two nations share many strategic interests" and the two countries share a common interest in expanding trade, which has increased the prosperity of both peoples.

"Our trade relationship can become even stronger," said Bush.

Bush said that the United States and China share strategic interests in enhancing world security by cooperating in addressing global threats including proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, natural disasters, as well as avian flu and other pandemic disease.

The Chinese president arrived in Washington Wednesday evening from Seattle. The United States is the first leg of Hu's current five-nation tour, which will also take him to Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya.

Source: Xinhua

Bush, Hu find no breakthrough on Iran

Reuters

Washington, April 21, 2006



 
 
 
 

 
 



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President George W Bush failed to win a commitment from Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday on immediate steps to reduce China's $202 billion trade surplus with the United States.

Hu did give Bush a general assurance he was working to make the Chinese currency more "flexible" but this fell far short of US demands for a dramatic revaluation of the yuan as a way to make US products more competitive in Chinese and global markets and reduce the trade imbalance.

The two leaders also failed to bridge differences over how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions. Bush wants China to agree to tougher UN Security Council action, but his arguments did not persuade Hu.

Speaking in the Oval Office, the two leaders said their bilateral relationship had matured and they could discuss differences openly. "He tells me what he thinks, and I tell him what I think, and we do so with respect," Bush said.

Bush calls for more cooperation with China

www.chinaview.cn 2006-04-21 01:06:58

  WASHINGTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said here Thursday that the U.S. and China share many strategic interests and should enhance their cooperation.

  Giving a speech on a welcoming ceremony held on the White House South Lawn to welcome Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in the U.S. for a state visit, Bush said the United States and China are two nations connected through a global economy that has created opportunity for both two peoples.

  "The United States welcomes the emergence of a China that is peaceful and prosperous... Our two nations share many strategic interests," he said.

  He said he is to discuss how to advance the interests and how China and the United States can cooperate with other nations to address common challenges in the world.

  After recalling the long history of the Sino-U.S. relations, the U.S. president said their friendship has grown from strength to strength, and yielded rich fruit thanks to the concerted efforts made by the two governments and two peoples.

  "Both China and the United States are countries of significant influence in the world....In particular, mutually beneficial and win-win China-U.S. economic cooperation and trade benefit our two peoples and promote the economic growth in the Asia Pacific region and the world at large," he said.

  After the ceremony, the two leaders held talks at the White House on issues ranging from Sino-U.S. relations to major international and regional issues of common concern. Enditem

Editor: Luan Shanglin

  Related Story

No Questions Asked
Rather than press China's president to liberalize, the White House imports his muzzle on the media.
Thursday, April 20, 2006; Page A24


FOR HU JINTAO, the substance of his summit meeting with President Bush today will occur before it ever begins -- with the 21-gun salute the Chinese president will receive on the White House lawn. Broadcast back to China, the reception will be offered by the communist regime as proof that Mr. Bush regards Mr. Hu as a strategic partner in managing global affairs. But there's another signal moment of the day's events, which will occur just after the Bush-Hu talks. Contrary to the standard protocol for visiting heads of state, there will be no news conference at which American and Chinese journalists can ask unscripted questions.

The White House's acquiescence to a Chinese demand that Mr. Hu not be subjected to possibly embarrassing queries about political prisoners, religious freedom or censorship of the Internet symbolizes a major element of Mr. Bush's policy -- his willingness to relegate China's worsening performance on political freedom and human rights to a back burner.


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To be sure, in briefings for American journalists and in the president's public remarks, human rights issues will be duly noted. Mr. Bush is said to be particularly moved by China's suppression of religious freedom, both among its 70 million Christians and the Buddhists of Tibet; we're told he's also focused on Beijing's policy of forcibly repatriating refugees from North Korea, in violation of international treaties.

There is much else Mr. Bush could raise with Mr. Hu, including China's employment of some 30,000 censors to control content on the Internet; its status as the world's biggest jailer of journalists, with dozens held for reporting on official corruption, environmental disasters or the need for political reform; its abrogation of an agreement to allow full democracy in Hong Kong; or the recent report of the U.N. rapporteur on torture, which said that torture "remains widespread in China."

Maybe Mr. Bush will mention some of this. But even if he does, we'll never hear Mr. Hu's response, thanks to the administration's exquisite sensitivity to Beijing's aversion to press freedom. With annoying questions excluded, the focus today is likely to be just where Mr. Hu wants it, on his discussion of strategic issues with Mr. Bush; the visual will be his 21-gun salute. Never mind that according to Mr. Bush's doctrine, respect for human rights is directly connected to the ability of states to be strategic partners of the United States. "Governments that brutalize their people," says the president's new national security strategy, "also threaten the peace and stability of other nations." News conference question for Mr. Bush: Does that logic not apply to China?

China and Its President Greeted by a Host of Indignities

By Dana Milbank
Friday, April 21, 2006; Page A02

Chinese President Hu Jintao got almost everything he wanted out of yesterday's visit to the White House.

He got the 21-gun salute, the review of the troops and the Colonial fife-and-drum corps. He got the exchange of toasts and a meal of wild-caught Alaskan halibut with mushroom essence, $50 chardonnay and live bluegrass music. And he got an Oval Office photo op with President Bush, who nodded and smiled as if he understood Chinese while Hu spoke.


VIDEO | Chinese President Visits Washington

Friday, April 21, at 11: 00 a.m. ET
Chinese President Makes Visit to U.S.
Washington Post staff writer Edward Cody, who is based in Beijing, answers questions about the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the U.S. to discuss trade and relations between the two countries.


Photos
Chinese President Visits U.S.
Chinese President Hu Jintao began wrapping up his U.S. tour with a visit to the White House on Thursday. President Bush encouraged Hu's cooperation to help resolve disputes with Iran and North Korea.


Transcript
Bush and Hu Meet With Press
SPEAKERS: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES


Transcript
U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao
SPEAKERS: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES


Washington Sketch
A national political reporter for the Post, Milbank writes Washington Sketch, an observational column about political theater in the White House, Congress and elsewhere in the capital. He covered the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns and President Bush's first term. Before coming to the Post as a Style political writer in 2000, he covered the Clinton White House for the New Republic and Congress for the Wall Street Journal.

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If only the White House hadn't given press credentials to a Falun Gong activist who five years ago heckled Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin, in Malta. Sure enough, 90 seconds into Hu's speech on the South Lawn, the woman started shrieking, "President Hu, your days are numbered!" and "President Bush, stop him from killing!"

Bush and Hu looked up, stunned. It took so long to silence her -- a full three minutes -- that Bush aides began to wonder if the Secret Service's strategy was to let her scream herself hoarse. The rattled Chinese president haltingly attempted to continue his speech and television coverage went to split screen.

"You're okay," Bush gently reassured Hu.

But he wasn't okay, not really. The protocol-obsessed Chinese leader suffered a day full of indignities -- some intentional, others just careless. The visit began with a slight when the official announcer said the band would play the "national anthem of the Republic of China" -- the official name of Taiwan. It continued when Vice President Cheney donned sunglasses for the ceremony, and again when Hu, attempting to leave the stage via the wrong staircase, was yanked back by his jacket. Hu looked down at his sleeve to see the president of the United States tugging at it as if redirecting an errant child.

Then there were the intentional slights. China wanted a formal state visit such as Jiang got, but the administration refused, calling it instead an "official" visit. Bush acquiesced to the 21-gun salute but insisted on a luncheon instead of a formal dinner, in the East Room instead of the State Dining Room. Even the visiting country's flags were missing from the lampposts near the White House.

But as protocol breaches go, it's hard to top the heckling of a foreign leader at the White House. Explaining the incident -- the first disruption at the executive mansion in recent memory -- White House and Secret Service officials said she was "a legitimate journalist" and that there was nothing suspicious in her background. In other words: Who knew?

Hu did. The Chinese had warned the White House to be careful about who was admitted to the ceremony. To no avail: They granted a one-day pass to Wang Wenyi of the Falun Gong publication Epoch Times. A quick Nexis search shows that in 2001, she slipped through a security cordon in Malta protecting Jiang (she had been denied media credentials) and got into an argument with him. The 47-year-old pathologist is expected to be charged today with attempting to harass a foreign official.

Bush apologized to the angry Chinese leader in the Oval Office. "Frankly, we moved on," National Security Council official Dennis Wilder told reporters later. It was, he said, a "momentary blip."

Maybe, but Hu was in no mood to make concessions. In negotiations, he gave the U.S. side nothing tangible on delicate matters such as the nuclear problems in North Korea and Iran, the Chinese currency's value and the trade deficit with China.

Wilder pleaded for understanding. "Some people today want to see a quick fix to the trade imbalance," he explained. "But in the new global economy there is no quick fix."

In the arrival ceremony, Bush, after leading Hu on a review of the troops, welcomed him to the White House. Hu clapped for himself. He was less enthusiastic about the long list of demands Bush made in his welcome speech: expand Chinese consumption of U.S. goods, enforce intellectual property rights, and allow freedom to assemble, speak and worship.

Hu's reply was overshadowed by what the White House transcript politely called an "audience interruption," as if somebody had sneezed.

The meeting in the Oval Office brought more of the same. In front of the cameras, Bush thanked Hu for his "frankness" -- diplomatic code for disagreement -- and Hu stood expressionless. The two unexpectedly agreed to take questions from reporters, but Bush grew impatient as Hu gave a long answer about trade, made all the longer by the translation. Bush at one point tapped his foot on the ground. "It was a very comprehensive answer," he observed when Hu finished.

Last came the unofficial state luncheon. After the butter heirloom corn broth and the ginger-scented dumplings had been consumed, Hu rose with a toast that proclaimed he and Bush had "reached a broad and important agreement on China-U.S. relations."

The White House didn't see it that way. Instead of a statement about a new accord with China, it issued a press release titled "MEDICARE CHECK-UP: Prescription Drug Benefit Enrollment Hits 30 Million . . . ."

Research editor Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report.

US, China discuss Iran nuclear program PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY
AM - Friday, 21 April , 2006 08:19:00
Reporter: Kim Landers
TONY EASTLEY: The United States and China have discussed the possibility of the United Nations imposing sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program.

US President George W. Bush raised the prospect of a fresh UN resolution during a meeting today with China's leader, Hu Jintao.

The two leaders also tackled other sensitive issues like North Korea, Taiwan and trade.

But President Hu's first White House visit was marred by a single Falun Gong protestor who heckled him during a speech on the South Lawn at the White House.

Washington Correspondent, Kim Landers reports.

(sound of a military brass band playing)

KIM LANDERS: On the White House lawn, China's President Hu Jintao has been greeted with full military honours.

(sound of Chinese National Anthem played by military band)

The pomp and pageantry was a year in the planning, but the highly orchestrated picture perfect ceremony has been shattered by a single heckler.

(sound of Chinese heckler screaming)

The Falun Gong protestor began screaming as President Hu began speaking, shouting at him that his days were numbered.

A clearly embarrassed President George W. Bush whispered: "You're okay," to China's leader who had paused briefly, but soon resumed his speech.

It took several minutes for the Secret Service to reach the woman and escort her away.

Moments earlier Mr Bush had called on his Chinese counterpart to allow freedom of speech and religion.

GEORGE W. BUSH: China can grow even more successful by allowing the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely and to worship.

KIM LANDERS: President Bush appealed for China's help to tackle the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, and President Hu has pledged to do just that.

HU JINTAO (translated): We're ready to continue to work with the US side and other parties concerned to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsular and the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiation.
KIM LANDERS: President Bush later revealed he'd used their Oval Office meeting to discuss the prospect of the United Nations ordering sanctions against Iran.

GEORGE W. BUSH: And one of the tactics that I've been talking to the President about is the use of the United Nations Security Council Chapter Seven.

KIM LANDERS: It's an idea China has so far resisted, and President Hu didn't give a public response.

But the two leaders were on common ground on the sensitive issue of Taiwan.

GEORGE W. BUSH: I do not support independence for Taiwan.

HU JINTAO (translated): We'll be no means allow Taiwan independence.

KIM LANDERS: China's leader has also used this visit to try to defuse growing trade tensions with the United States. He's promised more currency reforms and the protection of intellectual property rights. But the US has also made it clear it wants more concrete advances.

This is Kim Landers in Washington for AM.