China To Bush: We Can Work It Out
President Hu Jintao on Sunday promised President Bush that China will take steps to reduce its huge trade surplus with the United States and said the two countries can deal with their problems.
Hu said he also told Mr. Bush that China was willing to step up protection for intellectual property rights.
"The two sides also expressed their willingness to join hands together to gradually achieve a balance of trade between China and the United States," Hu said through a translator. "The frictions and problems that may arise in this rapid development of the two-way trade may be properly addressed through consultations."
There appeared to be no breakthroughs about U.S. demands for currency reforms in China and no concrete announcement about how China would cut its trade surplus with the United States, on track to hit $200 billion this year.
And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed dismay over a crackdown on dissidents before Bush arrived. She said the U.S. side would raise the issue "quite vociferously with the Chinese government to both get a clarification and to make clear that we believe open societies allow people to express themselves."
She also expressed disappointment with China's response to a U.S. request in September for action on specific human rights cases.
"We've certainly not seen the progress that we would expect, and I think we will have to keep working on it," she said. "But obviously this is a long conversation and a long haul."
Mr. Bush and Hu sought to ease tensions Sunday over China's rapid rise, grappling with disputes over trade, human rights and religious freedom and trying to emphasize common ground about North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The two leaders met at the Great Hall of the People, the sprawling government building on the edge of Tiananmen Square.
Trying to send a message to China's leaders, Mr. Bush opened the day by attending church services, taking a front-row seat with his wife, Laura, at Gangwashi Church, one of five officially recognized Protestant churches in Beijing.
"It wasn't all that long ago that people were not allowed to worship openly in this society," the president said after the hourlong service. "My hope is that the government of China will not fear the Christians who gather to worship openly. A healthy society is a society that welcomes all faiths."
In the wake of a no-holds barred battle of words in the Congress over whether troops in Iraq should come home, the president is hoping that big-ticket issues in China – democracy, human rights, security and trade – will drown out all the noise in Washington, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent John Roberts.
At a Sunday press conference with U.S. reporters, Mr. Bush said members of Congress have every right to disagree, but added that they have a responsibility to provide a credible alternative.
The president also rejected the notion that one's stance for or against the war raised or diminished their patriotism. "I heard somebody say well maybe so and so's not patriotic because they disagree with my position," Mr. Bush said. "I totally reject that thought. This is not an issue of who's patriotic and not patriotic. It's an issue of an honest open debate about the way forward in Iraq."
In a day of talks, the president was expected to trumpet a trade concession from China. He also was to prod Chinese leaders about currency system changes, human rights and the piracy of American movies, computer programs and other copyrighted material. Bush also was seeking China's cooperation on North Korea, Iran, Syria and other trouble spots.
Mr. Bush, however, chose to make the worship service his first public event during a two-day state visit to China. The significance of Mr. Bush's visit to the church, a modest marble-and-brick building tucked off an alley, was clear to the congregation of about 400.
The president received a standing ovation when he entered the sanctuary, which looked much like a classroom with wooden movie theater seats. There was more applause when the pastor announced his presence, and members of the choir assembled outside to see Mr. Bush off afterward.
"The spirit of the Lord is very strong inside your church," Bush said.
The service at Gangwashi Church was in Chinese, but its structure and content would have been familiar to any Protestant parishioner in the United States. Mr. Bush and other guests listened to a translation over headphones.
In the church's guest book, Mr. Bush wrote "May God bless the Christians of China."
Under the president's inscription, the first lady wrote, "And with love and respect, Laura Bush."
This month, the State Department cited China, a land of 1.3 billion people, as one of eight countries of "particular concern" for denying religious freedom. The White House urged China's state-controlled media not to censor news of Mr. Bush's visit, which includes meetings and dinner with China's top leaders.
China's massive trade surplus with the United States — likely to hit $200 billion this year — is a political headache for Mr. Bush. So it was good news when he heard upon his arrival that Beijing was buying 70 of Chicago-based Boeing Co.'s 737 planes.
The administration said the purchase was "a testament to how our approach to China is yielding real results." But Mr. Bush said China needs to do more "to provide a level playing field for American farmers and businesses seeking access to China's market."
He said China had made a good start by promising to protect intellectual property rights, move toward a more market-based currency and ease the trade imbalance. "But China needs to take action to ensure these goals are fully implemented," Mr. Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday.
Bird flu was a major issue in the talks, after China's acknowledgment Wednesday of its first human cases of the disease. New outbreaks among poultry in China are a daily occurrence.
China was the third stop on Mr. Bush's Asian trip, which began in Japan with the president criticizing China's behavior. He suggested China emulate the democratic progress of Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing regards as a renegade province.
It was Mr. Bush's third trip as president to China, although he lived here in the 1970s when his father was the top U.S. diplomat in Beijing.
In Mr. Bush's view, the U.S. has a mixed relationship with China. His administration is concerned about China's growing economic and military might and its surging demand for oil — a factor in rising U.S. gasoline prices.
China also is a huge and lucrative market for U.S. goods and a partner in the effort to persuade North Korea to abandon it nuclear weapons program.
"I think we've got a lot of issues to deal with, is the best way to describe it," Mr. Bush said in a pre-trip interview. "China has got influence. China is a big, powerful nation. And, therefore, it's in our interest that we share ideas and work together."
U.S. officials worry that China's military buildup could threaten American interests in Asia and eventually turn China into a global economic and political rival. China's expanding missile forces pose a threat not only to Taiwan and other parts of Asia but potentially even to the U.S.
Mr. Bush is pressing China to speed the revaluation of its currency, which U.S. companies contend is undervalued by as much as 40 percent. That makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and American goods more expensive in China.
"The fundamental question is whether the Chinese will allow market forces to help drive the movement of their currency," said Faryar Shirzad, the president's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.
Mr. Bush took time away from talks with China's leaders to go mountain biking with prospective members of China's Olympic team.
Striding toward the three men and three woman, President Bush proclaimed it's a "good day for a bike ride," adding, "How do you say, `take it easy on the old man."'
Bush, wearing a spiffy bike uniform, actually took off around the course before the others had even gotten their bikes off the rack and then joked to reporters about being a showoff.