胡锦涛主席访美专题报道

China's Hu turns Starbucks promoter
Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:50 AM BST
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MEDINA, Washington (Reuters) - Less than 24 hours into his visit to Seattle, Chinese President Hu Jintao was already serving as a pitchman for the city's homegrown Starbucks Corp.

Speaking to business executives, politicians and other dignitaries during a dinner on Tuesday at the home of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Hu expressed his desire to be a regular at the ubiquitous coffee-store chain.

"Starbucks coffee shops have mushroomed in China's cities," said the Chinese leader through a translator.

"If I were not serving in this office, I would certainly prefer to go into one of the coffee shops run by Starbucks," said the usually reserved Hu, drawing laughter from the crowd, which included Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz.

Starbucks, based in Seattle, opened its first store in China in 1999 and now has close to 400 shops there. It expects the country will eventually be its largest overseas market.

Hu arrived in Seattle earlier on Tuesday and toured the Microsoft campus before a dinner at Gates' lakeside mansion with about 100 guests, including former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state.

Security was tight.

Bomb-sniffing dogs surveyed the grounds before the guests arrived and a U.S. Coast Guard boat guarded the water surrounding the lodge-style home.

Guests held champagne flutes filled with Dom Perignon while Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire and Hu exchanged toasts.

Hu emphasized the goals the United States and China shared and thanked Gates for "providing this elegant venue with both traditional arts and modern technology and fine tastes."

The guests were then served a three-course meal, starting with a smoked guinea fowl salad, a choice of beef filet with Walla Walla onions or Alaskan halibut and spot prawns before a dessert of rhubarb brown butter almond cake.

Top communist, capitalist break bread
ALLISON LINN

Associated Press

Seattle ― After a swanky dinner with the world's richest man, Chinese President Hu Jintao turns his attention to America's largest exporter, whose sales to China could help ease tensions over a growing trade gap.

Mr. Hu, who dined Tuesday night at the home of Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, was invited to tour Boeing Co.'s Everett plant on Wednesday, just days after Chinese officials confirmed a commitment to order 80 Boeing 737 jets, in a deal valued at $5.2-billion (U.S.) at list prices. The order has yet to be finalized, and airlines typically negotiate discounts.

Boeing sees China as one of its most important future markets, estimating that the country will require 2,600 new airplanes over the next 20 years.

The big Boeing deal is one of several purchases the Chinese made recently as officials try to ease tensions over the massive trade gap between the two nations. It's one of several issues U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to raise when Mr. Hu heads to Washington, D.C., later in his four-day U.S. tour.

Mr. Hu's Thursday summit with Mr. Bush will cover a broad agenda, from China's much-criticized currency and other trade policies, to its aggressive search for oil and its positions on the developing nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

Touring Microsoft's suburban Redmond campus earlier Tuesday, Mr. Hu said he admired what Mr. Gates had achieved. He also sought to reassure Mr. Gates that China is serious about protecting intellectual property rights, a key concern for the company as it battles widespread piracy of its Windows operating system there.

“Because you, Mr. Bill Gates, are a friend of China, I'm a friend of Microsoft,” Mr. Hu said through a translator. “Also, I am dealing with the operating system produced by Microsoft every day,” he added, to laughter.

Mr. Gates responded: “Thank you, it's a fantastic relationship,” and then quipped: “And if you ever need advice on how to use Windows, I'll be glad to help.”

In a whirlwind visit, Mr. Hu -- accompanied by Mr. Gates, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and an entourage of Chinese dignitaries -- saw some business technology demonstrations and toured Microsoft's Home of the Future, which features experimental technology.

Mr. Hu began his American visit Tuesday in Everett, about 50 kilometres north of Seattle, where he was greeted by a local kung fu club and a handful of ribbon dancers from a Seattle elementary school.

Mr. Hu also was greeted by government and business leaders, including Governor Chris Gregoire and Starbucks Corp. chairman Howard Schultz.

Mr. Hu told Ms. Gregoire he didn't choose Seattle simply because it's the closest major U.S. city to China.

“It is also because your state enjoys very good co-operative relations with my country,” Mr. Hu said through a translator.

China is Washington state's third-largest export market, while Washington imported more than $16-billion worth of products from China in 2005.

Demonstrators both in support and opposition to Hu lined the streets near his downtown Seattle hotel. Supporters waved Chinese and American flags.

Members of the spiritual movement Falun Gong, condemned by the Chinese government as an evil cult, staked out all four corners around the hotel Tuesday to protest treatment of the movement's followers in China.

At the entrance to Microsoft's campus, protesters waved signs in Chinese and English that read “Stop web censorship” and “Release all political prisoners.”

Following the meeting at Microsoft, about 100 guests were invited to Mr. Gates' home for a dinner Ms. Gregoire hosted there. The guest list included executives from Costco Wholesale Corp., Weyerhaeuser Co., Boeing and Amazon.com Inc.

The visit came as Microsoft, after years of battling widespread software piracy in the potentially lucrative China market, is hopeful that things are changing. Chinese government officials say they are serious about cracking down on sales of illegal copies of Microsoft's Windows operating system, and some computer makers are pledging to ship more computers with legitimate Windows software installed.

Although analysts say it could be some time before the promised changes have a significant effect on Microsoft's sales, the pledges are a feel-good backdrop for Mr. Hu's visit with Mr. Gates and other business and government executives.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

China's trade deficit takes a back seat in Seattle

By NEIL MODIE
P-I REPORTER

Never mind what people in that other Washington say about China, President Hu. Here in this Washington, we love you ... and your money.

You buy our airplanes, our software, our wheat, our lumber, our wine and our lattes.

What trade deficit?

 
  Scott Eklund / P-I
Chinese President Hu Jintao meets Tuesday with Gov. Christine Gregoire at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
China's President Hu Jintao may have wanted the first leg of his U.S. visit to be a love fest before flying to Washington, D.C., for contentious talks about copyright piracy, trade barriers, his regime's chumminess with Iran and Venezuela, America's $200 billion trade deficit with China and other unpleasantries. If so, he knew what he was doing by stopping in the Seattle area.

Politicians in other parts of the country might bash China for snatching American jobs and technology. But politicians and business people here would be delighted if Hu would show up every week. He is the third Chinese president to visit Washington. He departs the state today after an overnight stay.


See other articles about President Hu's visit to Seattle
"The political, business and what I might call the establishment community here is very atypical of the rest of the country," said David Bachman, professor of Chinese politics and foreign policy at the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.

"Partly due to our trade involvement, partly due to the structure of the economy here that matches up well with China's needs, the U.S. relationship with Washington state and China is much more balanced than that of the rest of the country." China is this state's third-largest trading partner.

Americans elsewhere might equate China with the trade deficit and a lack of democracy. But Bachman said: "I think the consensus in Washington state is more of, well, we are going to get those things in a better situation through trade and interaction and so on, and therefore we should continue down the road toward better economic ties" and closer relations.

This state's politicians long have been China boosters. Sens. Warren Magnuson and Henry Jackson were early advocates of normalized relations. Both visited China.

Former Gov. John Spellman established a sister state/province relationship with Sichuan province 25 years ago. Gary Locke, the first American governor of Chinese descent, visited China four times while governor. He led efforts by American governors to gain permanent normal trading status for China and to allow it into the World Trade Organization. Gov. Christine Gregoire led a state trade delegation to China last fall.

China's State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, the nation's No. 2 official, visited Washington state last July, paving the way for Hu's visit this week. Tang told Gregoire that when officials of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing want to meet informally, they duck into a Starbucks.

Seattle-based Starbucks expects to have thousands of stores in China within a few years.

"We are more eager than most other states (to build trade with China) because we are the most trade-dependent state in the nation," said Locke, now co-chairman of the China practice group of Seattle's Davis Wright Tremaine law firm. "Virtually one out of every three or four jobs here is tied to international trade, especially exports."

For Hu, part of the payoff of his visit here is burnishing his image among China's leadership by touring Boeing's jetliner factory and hobnobbing with Bill Gates, said the UW's Bachman. "You can't downplay the sort of photo ops it has for him back home."

A Seattle lawyer with international clients is worried about a local "boosterism mentality" toward China, with some business people naively unaware of the pitfalls of selling goods to the Chinese, "who are always expecting the quid pro quo." He requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., is co-founder and co-chairman of the China-United States Working Group in the House. He said he tells people in the capital "that China isn't the Far East; it's my Near West.

"From where I am, it's in my back yard, and it's good to know what's going on in your back yard," said Larsen, whose 2nd District includes Boeing's Everett plant, which Hu is to tour today. Larsen will be there.

Some of Larsen's congressional colleagues feel much less neighborly toward China. Those from Southeastern states believe they've lost textile jobs to Third World countries, including China. Some in Rust Belt states blame the loss of manufacturing jobs partly on China.

"It's easy to point to the trade deficit and the currency issues as the main culprits, so the differences come mainly from where you sit in the country," Larsen said. "There are more people in Congress who feel their areas have been negatively impacted through our relations with China than feel (their districts) have been positively impacted."

A Zogby poll in 2004 and 2005 indicated that 59 percent of Americans and 63 percent of American business leaders viewed China favorably, but only 19 percent of congressional staff members perceived it that way. The poll was done for the Committee of 100, a non-partisan organization of prominent Americans of Chinese descent.

Larsen's district includes a large number of Boeing workers whose jobs are affected by how many jetliners China buys, but also a large number of military personnel aware of the security issues posed by China's growing economic and military power.

To Larsen, "the U.S.-China relationship will be and ought to be the primary diplomatic relationship of this century."

"If you were to walk the House floor," he said, "I think you would see some Republicans who are very wary of China because of national security issues, and you'd see some Democrats who are very wary of China because of economic issues.

"Having said that, I think the Washington state delegation sees the relationship between Washington state and China as one that benefits us overall, and that we want to take actions that would continue that beneficial relationship."

Assessing China's power
By Joseph S. Nye Jr. | April 19, 2006

WHEN CHINA'S President Hu Jintao visits Washington this week, George W. Bush will confront one of the key challenges of his presidency -- how to respond to China's increasing economic and military power. Everyone agrees that the rise of China is one of the transformative changes of this century, but Washington is divided between ''panda huggers" who welcome it and ''China hawks" who express alarm.

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Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, for example, complains that China's defense budget has increased by double digits since the mid-1990s, and will grow this year by 14.7 percent. Senators Charles Schumer, Lindsey Graham, and others believe that China's manipulation of the yuan is costing American jobs, and they threaten retaliation. Democracy and human rights advocates point to China's abysmal ratings in Freedom House's survey of the least free countries in the world.

A recent poll reports that one-third of Americans believe that China will ''soon dominate the world," while 54 percent see the emergence of China as a ''threat to world peace." Some commentators have argued that China will be as disruptive to the beginning of the 21st century as the Kaiser's Germany was to the 20th century.

But such views exaggerate China's power. Measured by official exchange rates, China is the fourth largest economy in the world and is growing at 9 percent annually, but its income per capita is only $1,700, or one-twenty-fifth that of the United States. China's research and development is only 10 percent of the American level.

If both the United States and China continue to grow at their current rates, it is possible that China's total economy could be larger than ours in 30 years, but American per capita income will remain four times greater. In addition, China's military power is far behind, and it lacks the soft power resources such as Hollywood and world-class universities that America enjoys. In contrast, the Kaiser's Germany had already passed Great Britain in industrial production by 1900, and launched a serious military challenge to Britain's naval supremacy.

The fact that China is a long way from overtaking the United States does not prevent a possible war over Taiwan, which China regards as a lost province. Weaker countries sometimes attack stronger countries -- witness Japan at Pearl Harbor. But such a conflict is not inevitable as long as Taiwan does not declare formal independence and China does not become impatient. With time and generational change, this might be one of the rare conflicts that becomes more tractable over time.

We faced these problems a decade ago when the Clinton administration formulated our strategy for East Asia. We knew that hawks who called for containment of China would not be able to rally other countries to that cause. We also knew that if we treated China as an enemy, we were ensuring future enmity. While we could not be sure how China would evolve, it made no sense to foreclose the prospect of a better future. Our response combined balance of power with liberal integration. We reinforced the US-Japan alliance so that China could not play a ''Japan card" against us, while inviting China to join the World Trade Organization. In a rare case of bipartisan comity, the Bush administration has continued that strategy.

China is now our third largest trade partner and second largest official creditor. Critics contend this trade with China has made us vulnerable. China could hurt us by dumping its holdings of dollars, but to do so would also damage its own economy. The yuan may be somewhat undervalued, but China accounts for only a third of the increase in America's trade deficit over the past five years, and a revaluation will not remove our deficit. As for jobs, even if America bars low-cost goods from China, we will import them from somewhere else. To solve our economic problems, we must get our own house in order by raising savings, cutting deficits, and improving our basic education.

China's internal evolution remains uncertain. It has lifted 400 million people out of poverty since 1990, but another 400 million live on less that $2 per day. It has enormous inequality, a migrant labor force of 140 million, severe pollution, and rampant corruption. Political evolution has failed to match economic progress. While more Chinese are free today than ever before in Chinese history, China is far from free. Some 110 million Chinese use the Internet, but the government censors the Internet. The danger is that party leaders, trying to counter the erosion of communism, will use nationalism as their ideological glue, and this could lead to an unstable foreign policy.

Faced with such uncertainty, President Bush has offered China a strategic dialogue to encourage it to evolve as a ''responsible stakeholder." He can take a lead from Ronald Reagan, who used the phrase ''trust but verify." For China, the right strategy is ''embrace, but hedge."

China's president brings informal touches to hectic itinerary in visit to Seattle area
By Seattle Times staff


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STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Gov. Christine Gregoire ― with translators, Washington officials and some members of Hu's delegation ― talk Tuesday at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel.





During his meeting with Gregoire, Hu said Washington state "enjoys very good cooperative relations with my country."



JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES

During his visit to the Microsoft campus in Redmond with company Chairman Bill Gates, right, Chinese President Hu Jintao waves to onlookers.



ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Waving the flag of Tibet, members of the Tibetan Youth Congress protest Hu's visit in a demonstration Tuesday on Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle.


Related

Chinese coverage of the visit

In a day full of meetings that were formal and staged, there were a few casual exchanges between China's President Hu Jintao and his local hosts.

The president jokingly told Gov. Christine Gregoire that he'll work on finding hotel rooms for all 6 million Washington residents during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told Hu, an engineer by training, that "if you ever need advice on how to use Windows, I'll be glad to help."

But mostly the Chinese president's first stop on his first state visit to the United States was cautious and carefully orchestrated.

Hu kicked off his four-day U.S. visit Tuesday with a warm welcome in Seattle, seeking to defuse tensions over China's rising economic and political might by focusing on positive relations here.

After his arrival at Paine Field in Everett, Hu and a delegation of top officials met with Gregoire and Washington state leaders.

President Hu's schedule today


Private meeting with senior U.S. and Chinese experts, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Defense Secretary William Perry.

Tour of Boeing's Everett plant with Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Alan Mulally. At 10:30 a.m., Hu addresses Boeing employees.

Luncheon speech, billed as "a major policy address," at the Future of Flight museum in Everett.

12:45 p.m. departure from Paine Field.

Source: Washington State Planning & Welcoming Committee
Hu also greeted members of the Chinese community and toured Microsoft's campus before dining at Gates' home.

"Seattle is the first stop on my trip to the United States," Hu said, speaking through a translator at the start of his 20-minute meeting with Gregoire.

"This is not just because Seattle is closest to China. More importantly, it's also because your state enjoys very good cooperative relations with my country."

Mindful of the U.S. trade deficit, Hu remarked that Washington state exports to China "shot up 64 percent" last year, adding that he was confident they would continue to grow in the future.

Gregoire called the meeting "a very, very positive exchange." She suggested to Hu that China open a trade office in Washington state. She also discussed collaboration with China on global health issues and education, asking Hu to consider hosting the Pacific Summit on health care in the future.

She proposed strengthening educational ties by creating a Washington educational institute in China and a "Confucius center" for studying Chinese language and culture in Washington state.

Asked if she brought up the question of human rights with Hu, Gregoire replied, "Rather than pressing a specific agenda, I simply believe we serve with the warm welcome he received today as a role model of what democracy can mean for that country."

More coverage of Hu's visit



China President Hu Jintao arrived in the Seattle area on Tuesday. His visit will include tours of Boeing and Microsoft and an official dinner hosted by the governor.



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Other features

Audio slideshow | Protest and support for Hu Jintao in Seattle
Photo gallery | President Hu's visit, Day One
Plasma Dreams, an illustrated look at trade with China (PDF)
TimesWatch | China (PDF)
As U.S.-China trade grows, so does the trade gap

Gregoire said she came out of meetings with a positive impression of China's 63-year-old leader, whose trip follows visits to Seattle by powerful predecessors Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin.

"Here's a warm individual on a personal level, one whom I believe is steadfast in sending the message to Americans that he believes in a friendship, a peaceful relationship and that some of the fears we've heard about are not well-founded," she said. "He is making sure his country is taking care of its people when it comes to health care and education, and it's a real challenge for him."

Security was extremely tight inside The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, where Hu and his 120-member delegation are staying. Only hotel guests and those scheduled to meet Hu could enter, and police sealed off surrounding streets from traffic.

Nearby sidewalks were lined with supporters and protesters, including members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, Taiwan independence supporters and Tibetan-rights activists. Supporters in colorful Chinese silk dress carried Chinese flags and beat drums.

Chinese community

After his meeting with the governor, Hu addressed a closed-door meeting of 250 members of Seattle's Chinese community at The Olympic.

Participants said afterward that the crowd clapped when Hu and his wife arrived.

The president shook some hands, posed for some pictures and then spoke for about 15 minutes on China, U.S.-China relations and the important role of the overseas Chinese community.

The community leaders did not get a chance to share their thoughts with Hu. But several said they were impressed.

"He was very, very articulate, and very gracious," said Conrad Lee, a Bellevue City Council member who was born in China and raised in Hong Kong.

Those present said Hu stressed that China still has problems, including improving the standard of living in the rural areas. He said one goal is to build a "xiaokang," or middle-class, society in the next 20 years.

Hu told the group he hopes his meeting with President Bush later this week will improve the dialogue between the two countries, audience members said.

He also thanked the overseas Chinese for their contributions to bridging relations between the two countries in academics, culture and business.

On the streets

Crowds of supporters and protesters greeted Hu in a raucous but peaceful demonstration.

Similar scenes were played out at Hu's various stops, in Everett, outside Microsoft's Redmond campus and even along the way to his dinner engagement at Gates' lakeside compound.

The chants of both supporters and protesters could be heard seven blocks away from The Olympic. Police said no major scuffles occurred.

When the president's motorcade arrived in downtown Seattle, Xunzhuo Gong of San Jose encouraged pro-Hu demonstrators to bang their drums to drown out the "Free Tibet" and anti-communism chants.

"The protesters don't see the big picture," said Gong, who helped organized the supporters. "This [visit] will help both countries' economies and help U.S. and China relations. You got two super economic powers working together."

Nearby, Tenzin Phulchung, 31, a Tibetan who arrived in Portland about a month ago, called on China to free his homeland. "Our very survival now as a distinct people with a distinct culture very much depends on our hope and the support of the international community," he said.

Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China in 1999, had the largest contingent of protesters in Seattle, with more than 200. Some flew in from Texas, Montana, Utah, Arizona and Idaho. There were also busloads of protesters from California.

At Microsoft

During his afternoon visit to Microsoft, Hu saw and asked about experimental gadgets Microsoft is developing for homes, offices and schools. He also reassured Gates that China would seek to protect intellectual-property rights.

Hu said he wanted to extend cooperation and Microsoft investment in China. "Because you, Mr. Bill Gates, are a friend of China, I'm a friend of Microsoft," Hu said, adding to laughter that he deals with the Windows operating system every day.

"It's a fantastic relationship" with China, Gates replied.

Hu's visit brought perhaps 100 protesters to Microsoft's campus.

The protesters' visibility, however, was limited. Microsoft placed potted pine trees in a way that screened the protesters from view. Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said the trees were moved there to cover up a "blank, sort of desolate area."

About 100 Chinese Microsoft workers gathered to greet Hu's motorcade. They had Chinese flags, hastily run off on color copiers at Microsoft.

At the dinner Tuesday night, Hu remarked that Gates' house was a combination of traditional and modern styles, and a mix of technology and art, said architect Ming Zhang of Bellevue-based MulvannyG2, who attended the event. Hu also noted that April 18 was the date the first cargo ship from China arrived in the U.S. 27 years ago, through Seattle's port.

Zhang described the atmosphere as "very friendly and informal, just like old friends."

Hu used a Chinese phrase to sum up his first day, saying "a good beginning is already half the way to success."

Seattle Times staff reporters Sanjay Bhatt, Lisa Chiu, Sherry Grindeland, Kristi Heim, Alwyn Scott, Rachel Tuinstra and Tan Vinh contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed.

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High-Tech Home Has China's Leader as Visitor
President Hu Jintao gets a red carpet welcome at Microsoft, where he tours the futuristic house. He will meet Bush on Thursday.
By Sam Howe Verhovek, Times Staff Writer
April 19, 2006


REDMOND, Wash. ― The setting, a tour of Microsoft's ultra-wired "Home of the Future," was faintly evocative of the American National Exhibition in Moscow in 1959 showcasing color televisions and other world-beating U.S. technology.

But when Chinese President Hu Jintao got together with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Tuesday, there was nothing like the famous "kitchen debate" in which then-Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev held a spirited discussion about the relative merits of the two superpowers' technological prowess.

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Instead, Hu got literal red-carpet treatment at the software giant's headquarters. And whereas Khrushchev scoffed to Nixon about the American propensity for making "gadgets" with "no useful purpose," Hu told Gates he was both a fan and "friend of Microsoft."



Hu made the Seattle area his first stop on a three-day tour, which will include a meeting with President Bush on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Trade tensions are expected to take center stage.

Hu's Air China 747 touched down late Tuesday morning in Everett, Wash., at the complex where Boeing produces the jumbo jet. He was greeted by a parade of Pacific Northwest dignitaries, including Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke, her predecessor, who was the nation's first Chinese American governor. Seattle moguls such as Howard Schultz, the Starbucks chairman, were also on hand to greet Hu, 63, and his wife, Liu Yongqing.

But Hu's entourage was also dogged by several hundred noisy protesters, some dressed in traditional silk outfits of blue and pink, who gathered within half a block of his downtown Seattle hotel, banging drums and chanting for China to get out of Tibet and free political prisoners.

Members of Falun Gong, a spiritual group, also demanded that Hu stop what they described as the torture and persecution of the movement's followers.

At Microsoft, a truck got within 150 feet of the building where Hu had his tour and unfurled a large blue banner proclaiming: "New China Rises When CCP Is Gone." The initials are those of the Chinese Communist Party. Hu did not acknowledge the protesters.

Arriving at Microsoft, Hu entered a conference center decorated with Chinese and American flags, and red banners with yellow Chinese characters that said he was "warmly welcome" at Microsoft.

During the tour, Hu saw a display screen that showed photographs of areas where he has worked and lived, according to a pool report of the tour filed by the Associated Press.

There were so many reporters and photographers present at the event, about 125 in all, many from Chinese news organizations, that there was no way to accommodate all of them for the tour itself, American and Chinese officials said.

In the kitchen of the Home of the Future, there was a recipe in Chinese for making focaccia.

Hu also watched a demonstration of a so-called Tablet PC, a personal computer that has a pen-like device for handwritten notes. Hu said that it was difficult to type some mathematical equations, and that a stylus could make it much easier to do such work on a computer, according to the pool report.

Greeting children from Seattle's John Stanford International School, who sang a song for him in Chinese, Hu wrote in Chinese characters on the Tablet PC: "Long live the Chinese-American friendship."

In brief remarks as he left with Gates, Hu said China would work to "protect intellectual property rights," a reference to software and film piracy, a major U.S.-China trade sticking point. Bootleg versions of Windows and major Hollywood films are widely available in China.

Hu was a guest Tuesday night for dinner at the home of Gates and his wife, Melinda, on Lake Washington. Gregoire was the official host of the event, which was attended by about 100 people. Some guests paid $20,000 for two invitations, with proceeds used to defray security costs and other expenses for Hu's visit. Among invitees who did not need to pony up were former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Hu visits Microsoft, vows better IPR protection
(chinadaily.com.cn/agencies)
Updated: 2006-04-19 10:36

SEATTLE - Chinese President Hu Jintao, on his way to talks with President George W. Bush, on Tuesday met with Bill Gates. The summit with Bush, expected to cover trade and moves to avert nuclear advances in North Korea and Iran, was also likely to touch on intellectual property.

After the meeting with Gates, the world's richest man, at Microsoft's headquarters, Hu reiterated that China would move against software pirates.


Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates during a meeting at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, April 18, 2006. Hu spent about an hour visiting and viewing some of the new technologies being developed for future homes. [Reuters]

At Microsoft Corp.'s campus, Hu said Tuesday he admired what Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates had achieved. He also sought to reassure Gates that China is serious about protecting intellectual property rights.

"Because you, Mr. Bill Gates, are a friend of China, I'm a friend of Microsoft," Hu said through a translator.

"Also, I am dealing with the operating system produced by Microsoft every day," he added, to laughter.

Gates responded: "Thank you, it's a fantastic relationship," and then said: "And if you ever need advice on how to use Windows, I'll be glad to help."

"China is focused on and has already accomplished much in creating and enforcing laws to protect intellectual property," he said. "We take our promises very seriously."

"Regarding intellectual property rights protection, it's not only needed by China as it expands its opening to the outside world, and improves the investment environment, it is also needed as we strengthen our innovation ability," Hu said.

Hu also said he would certainly welcome a further increase in Microsoft's investment in China.

"I'd also like to take this opportunity to assure you, Bill Gates, that we will certainly honor our words in protecting intellectual property rights," Hu said.

In his whirlwind visit to the Microsoft campus, Hu, accompanied by Gates, company CEO Steve Ballmer and an entourage of Chinese dignitaries, saw some business technology demonstrations and toured Microsoft's Home of the Future, which features experimental technology that might someday be used in people's living spaces.

In one demonstration, a vase outfitted with special technology, called a radio frequency identification tag, prompted screens on a display case to show pictures of areas where Hu has worked and lived.

In the kitchen, the counter displayed a recipe and instructions in Chinese for making focaccia bread, prompting Hu to ask if you still need a housekeeper if you have such advanced technology.

Hu makes IPR pledge during Microsoft visit
Financial Times


Updated: 8:40 a.m. ET April 19, 2006
Hu Jintao, China's president, said on Tuesday the protection of intellectual property rights was "essential" for China's development and its ability to build an economy based on innovation rather than low-cost manufacturing.

Mr Hu made his comments after Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates, gave him a tour of the software giant's prototype "home of the future" at the company's Seattle headquarters.


In comments certain to delight the US company, he said after the tour: "Bill Gates is a friend of China, and I am a friend of Microsoft."

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.Microsoft has been unable to build a substantial business in China, or at least one to match the market's potential, because of rampant software piracy. An estimated nine out of ten users of its operating systems in China are using illegal copies.

In a court case last year, an outgoing Microsoft vice-president, Kai-fu Lee claimed that Mr Gates had once flew into a rage and complained that the Chinese people and the Beijing government had destroyed his company. Mr Gates denied making such comments.

China has long had laws compatible with global IPR rules but their enforcement has been patchy and at times non-existent.

Under heavy pressure from the US government, China has announced a series of measures in recent weeks in an attempt to ensure that computers in China are sold pre-loaded with licensed software.

Although the directives do not specify that the software should be that of Microsoft, the decision has the potential to benefit the Seattle company and allow it to begin building a more solid foundation in China.

In inpromptu remarks to reporters after the Microsoft tour, with Mr Gates standing by his side, Mr Hu said IPR protection was indispensable if China was to continue to open to the wider world.

"[IPR protection] is necessary to create a favourable investment environment, good and fast development, and for China's own innovative capability," he said.

"We take very seriously our promises to enforce our laws on this issue."

It is unusual for the Chinese president, who operates in a highly-controlled environment, to respond to questions from reporters.

The security surrounding his visit has been at least equal to that of the kind that envelops a US president when travelling overseas, although Mr Hu does not face the same kind of terrorist threats that George W Bush does.

The Chinese delegation, with the help of their US hosts, went to great lengths to ensure that Mr Hu was not exposed to small bands of protesters from Falun Gong, a religious sect subject to severe repression in China.

Mr Hu dined at Mr Gates' Seattle home on Tuesday night with just over 100 guests hosted by Christine Gregoire, the governor of Washington state.

The first group of guests, including Brad Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president and general counsel, Howard Schultz, Starbucks' chief executive officer and Henry Kissinger, were greeted by Melinda Gates.

Mr Gates gave Mr Hu a tour of his house.

Welcoming the guests, Mr Gates said: "Melinda and I are honoured to welcome you into our home. It is a sign of our respect for you, Mr President, and the great fondness of the American people for the people of China."

The menu included smoked Guinea fowl with hazelnuts, spring radish and Granny Smith apples, filet of beef with Walla Walla sweet onions, Washington-grown asparagus, a choice of celeriac puree and chervil glace or Alaskan halibut and spot prawns with spring vegetables, fingerling potatoes and smoked tomato-infused olive oil.

For dessert, guests were offered rhubarb brown butter almond cake.

Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

Protests unable to cool President Hu's welcome

By BRAD WONG, JOHN IWASAKI AND TODD BISHOP
P-I REPORTERS

Despite being shadowed by hundreds of protesters, Chinese President Hu Jintao shone diplomatically during a choreographed Seattle visit Tuesday -- winning over Washington business and political leaders with promises to bolster trade and relations with the state.


  PHOTOS

View a photo gallery of President Hu's visit to the Seattle area.

Gov. Christine Gregoire emerged from an afternoon meeting with Hu clearly buoyed. Gregoire said she asked him to consider opening a trade office in this state, hosting a Pacific Rim health care meeting and boosting education ties.

"He's very proud of the very warm friendship and warm relationship between China and Washington state," she said.

Exports from Washington to China totaled about $5 billion last year, a significant increase from 2004, according to Hu, who said the trade partners share common interests in science, technology and education.

Besides Gregoire, Hu and his ministers also met with other top state officials, including University of Washington President Mark Emmert. Also present was U.S. Ambassador to China Clark Randt Jr.

In the ornate Congress Room of the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Hu announced in Mandarin, "I'm extremely happy (about) being in Seattle."

Hu later toured part of Microsoft's Redmond campus, walking in on a red carpet to loud applause from employees. He praised the company for its technological innovations, promised that China would fulfill its recent promises to combat software piracy, and encouraged Microsoft to boost its investment and involvement in China.

"I certainly look forward to the extension of your cooperation with China," Hu told Gates, according to an Associated Press pool report.

China's president spent the evening attending a banquet in his honor at Gates' palatial Medina home, attended by about 100 state government, community and business leaders.

Guests ranged from Howard Schultz, the Starbucks chairman, to Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. secretary of state, who is scheduled to meet with Hu today. Gates, Gregoire and former Gov. Gary Locke spoke, and the guests raised glasses of Dom Perignon to toast the Chinese president, according to a Reuters pool report.

Gregoire alluded to Hu's next stop, which could prove considerably more difficult -- asking him to "please share with President Bush that you have been a part of and seen and visited and shared in the real Washington."

Through a translator, Hu called Washington state "a pioneer in the U.S. trading alliance with China" and noted that the state is "closer to China than any other place on mainland United States."

Kicking off his historic four-day U.S. visit, his first as president, the Chinese leader arrived at Everett's Paine Field at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday.

Several hundred Chinese Americans from the Northwest waved U.S. and Chinese flags. They cheered as Hu and his wife, Liu Yongqing, stepped off their gleaming white Air China Boeing 747-400 under sunny skies.

Greeting him were more than a dozen dignitaries, including Gregoire, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Locke, Schultz and Alan Mulally, Boeing commercial airplane president.

Surrounded by an entourage of aides and a security detail, Hu later worked the edge of the crowd, shaking hands with well-wishers.

"I'm very happy," said Gary Deng of Seattle, who wore a lapel pin with the flags of both nations and waited more than two hours to catch a glimpse of Hu. "I'm an American citizen, but I'm Chinese."

Hu is a strong president who is bringing China "recognition in a good way," said Dill Chin of Seattle, a retired photographer.

"China always has been a peaceful, loving country" and Hu will help strengthen it, said Ed Chan of Portland, a retired executive.

More than a dozen demonstrators held signs outside the entrance to Paine Field, criticizing the Chinese government's suppression of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement.

"If they are really being persecuted for no reason, it shouldn't be continued," Chan said, but suppression is warranted if the movement is "not helping people's progress."

Welcoming Hu were seven lion and two dragon dance teams from the Seattle Kung Fu Club and five pink-clad girls who performed a ribbon dance.

Performing for China's president is "a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity," said Pierre Davis, a longtime club member and Seattle police lieutenant.

Or, as 7-year-old club member Thomas Bourns of Renton put it, "I think that's cool."

After Hu departed Paine Field in a caravan of limousines, Mulally told reporters that he was looking forward to introducing Hu to Boeing employees during a tour today.

"The more you get to know each other, the more you find in common," Mulally said. He described simply what China and the United States have in common: "economic development."

Falun Gong demonstrators gathered outside the Seattle hotel, broadcasting messages in both languages. They were flanked by Hu supporters.

"Our mission is to bridge the gap between China and the U.S., and there are too many gaps," said one booster, Peter Zhou of Seattle.

Falun Gong follower Chung Lim of San Francisco had a different message. "We want to convey the message that the Chinese Communist Party has been persecuting us," she said. "Please stop this atrocity."

Ping Li, 47, who came to Seattle from China's Hebei Province, praised the visit as "great for the Chinese leadership. It's the first visit to America to symbolize a more active role in world affairs."

"Because he is a great leader in China, I am very proud of him," said Wei Ye, head of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of Southern California.

But dozens of Tibetan activists were also on the streets, chanting "China ... out of Tibet!"

Jamyang Dorjee, 34, of Bothell, said Hu, a former Communist Party leader in Tibet, bears some responsibility for human rights atrocities and a continuing lack of religious freedom there. "He's going to hear there's opposition to what China's doing in Tibet," Dorjee said.

Outside Microsoft's campus, more protesters gathered, but three red, Chinese-language banners hanging from the conference center welcomed Hu. Several dozen people, many of them Microsoft employees originally from China, stood across from the conference center waving Chinese flags.

Hu was greeted by Gates and led down a red carpet, past dozens of Microsoft employees. The two men paused for several seconds to shake hands for two rows of cameras.

The subject of Hu's trip was also raised by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer during an address Tuesday to the Western Washington University Seattle Business Forum.

"We're certainly honored at Microsoft to have a chance to welcome him, to host him, and to have a chance to share some of the excitement and innovation going on in our industry."

Microsoft's growth in China was likely a topic of Hu's visit with the company. But Ballmer sought to calm local fears about Microsoft's overseas expansion, reiterating the company's past assurances that "the lion's share" of its growth will continue to come in its home region.

Added to today's schedule is the meeting with Kissinger, former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft and others to discuss U.S.-China relations.

The Washington, D.C.-based think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies, organized the meeting. Participants will talk about China's rise and implications for the United States, said Carola McGiffert, a center fellow.

Kissinger, a Nobel Prize winner who leads an influential consulting firm, was one of the key diplomats in the Nixon administration in normalizing relations with China. Scowcroft, a general, served under President George H.W. Bush.

Hu is scheduled to meet with President Bush on Thursday.

April 18, 2006, 10:23PM
Let's not go looking for a 'Cold War' with Beijing
There are areas of mutual interest to pursue with China


By JAMES A. BAKER III


Presidents Bush and Hu will be busy when the Chinese chief of state visits Washington on Thursday. Trade, nonproliferation and regional security are just some of the topics that will be on their agenda. Their importance is testimony to what is rapidly becoming the most critical and sensitive bilateral relationship in the world.

Chinese and American leaders meet at a time when two historic phenomena are shaping the geopolitical landscape. The first has been called America's "unipolar moment." The United States may not be omnipotent. But, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, we face no global rival. The days when the world was divided into two armed camps are long since gone. In a number of areas ― military might, economic strength, technological innovation and cultural influence ― America possesses advantages over any would-be rival that make it unique in modern history.

The second phenomenon shaping the international environment is the rise of China. That country's economic revolution ― one that has seen growth average nearly 10 percent annually for three decades and hundreds of millions of its citizens lifted from poverty ― is perhaps the most dramatic economic transformation in history. From a closed, inward-looking and impoverished nation, China has moved rapidly to the first rank of world economies. Unsurprisingly, this has been matched by an increasingly activist Chinese foreign policy in Asia and around the world.

Taken together, these two phenomena have prompted some observers on both sides of the Pacific to predict an inevitable conflict as Beijing's ambitions collide with Washington's pre-eminence. We should reject any such analysis.

First, predictions of inevitable conflict can become self-fulfilling prophecies. There is no better way to find an enemy than to go looking for one. To view any expansion of China's role in world affairs as sinister will only increase misunderstanding and mistrust.

Second, such an analysis seriously underestimates the broad areas where Chinese and American interests converge. One obvious area is economic growth. Not only are the two countries major trading partners, but both have a vital stake in the health of the broader world economic system. Another area is energy. China's emergence as a major importer of oil has created new possibilities for cooperation between Washington and Beijing. These range from coordinated stockpiling to enhancing stability in major oil-producing regions. One clear challenge to security in the Persian Gulf is Iran's nuclear program. Both Washington and Beijing have a direct interest in avoiding a nuclear Iran that can blackmail its neighbors and threaten the Straits of Hormuz.

A last area of shared interest is security in Northeast Asia. Here the major threat is North Korea's nuclear program. Should Pyongyang deploy nuclear weapons, it could plunge all Northeast Asia into a nuclear arms race. China's participation in six-party talks to resolve the North Korean impasse is an important step in broader security cooperation between Beijing, Washington, and regional capitals.

Third, predictions of conflict give short shrift to the ability of Washington and Beijing to manage differences. Chinese and American policy-makers cannot be content with identifying issues for common action. They must manage differences. Such differences do exist. More are likely to arise as the United States and China pursue their national interests across an increasing range of issues and regions. Taiwan remains a perennial potential flashpoint. So does trade policy, as witness the furor in the United States last year over our trade deficit with China. Human rights and proliferation are also areas of contention.

A first step in managing differences is broadening Sino-American consultation across the board. The ongoing U.S.-PRC dialogue provides a model. It not only addresses specific issues of concern to both countries but includes broader exchanges of views. Steps to increase military coordination as a confidence-building measure are similarly welcome, as are exchanges of scientists, scholars and students. Such initiatives are a critical supplement to traditional diplomacy.

But managing the Sino-American relationship will also demand courageous political leadership in both capitals. Leaders in Washington and Beijing must be prepared to confront powerful domestic constituencies as they seek to keep bilateral relations on an even keel. One of the signal diplomatic accomplishments of the George H.W. Bush administration was maintaining Sino-American engagement in the wake of Tiananmen Square. It was the right thing to do. But it was highly unpopular at the time.

Leaders in China and the United States will be able to summon such courage only if they keep their eyes on the broader issues at stake. Should Washington and Beijing slip into confrontation, everybody will lose, and not just the people of China and the United States. The consequences in terms of instability would be felt throughout Asia and on a truly global level.

It would be nothing less than tragic were the world, after emerging from one Cold War, to plunge into another.

Baker, a Houstonian, was secretary of state in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.