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China's leader to visit Seattle Hu likely will see protests,
adulation during Seattle visit
He'll meet with Gates before heading to D.C.
JOSEPH KAHN BY PEGGY ANDERSEN; The Associated Press the New York Times
Last updated: April 17th, 2006
Talks with Microsoft's Bill Gates, a tour at Boeing and a meeting with
lawmakers are on the agenda in Seattle before China's leader heads off to
meet with President Bush.
BEIJING - China and the United States have engaged in public disputes about
trade, human rights, military spending and energy security, but just for a
moment last year, their leaders put briefing books aside and agreed to talk
privately.
With an aura of candor described as unusual for Chinese leaders, President
Hu Jintao told President Bush that fighting political corruption, rural
unrest, a widening wealth gap and severe pollution consumes nearly all his
time. He said domestic problems left China with neither the will nor the
means to challenge America's dominance in world affairs, according to two
White House officials who were told about the session.
The overture - described as having improved Hu's ties with Bush - is part of
a Chinese effort to reduce U.S. anxiety about the country's growing
economic, political and military power.
The Chinese president visits Seattle this week before heading to Washington
to meet with Bush.
Hu plans to visit Microsoft and dine with its chairman, Bill Gates, on
Tuesday. Human rights and media watchdog groups have pressed Gates to raise
concerns about China's online censorship and arrest of cyber-dissidents. Hu
will also tour Boeing's aircraft factory before continuing on to Washington,
D.C., on Thursday.
In Seattle, Hu has invited a small group of American statesmen and scholars
to discuss bilateral relations with him privately, an event that the
countries agreed to keep off the official agenda to encourage candor,
participants said.
Is 'peaceful rise' possible?
The Seattle session was organized by Zheng Bijian, a former head of the
Communist Party's main training academy for party cadres, who coined the
term "peaceful rise." The concept of peaceful rise, though only informally
endorsed by Hu, is intended to show that China believes that it can emerge
as a great power without following the violent path blazed by other
superpowers.
"There is a real effort at salesmanship going on," said one former Bush
administration official invited to participate in the private session. "He
wants to come across as charming and attentive to American concerns."
During Hu's first White House visit as China's leader, the question will be
whether the improved chemistry between the heads of the world's richest
nation and its fastest-rising rival can enhance a relationship that seems to
be stuck somewhere between tentative stability and stormy tension.
"At the top level, the two have become frank and pragmatic in discussing the
major issues between them," said Michael Green, the former director of Asian
affairs at the National Security Council who is now at Georgetown
University. "But China is also trying to expand its influence in the world
at the expense of the U.S., which is not something we are going to give them
a pass on."
Breakthroughs have been few
Bush has pledged to confront "every ruler and every nation" that resisted
the tide of democracy, but the relationship with authoritarian China tends
to resist breakthroughs.
Officials in the two countries seem fatigued by incremental talks on the
main issues that divide them. These include controlling nuclear
proliferation in Iran and North Korea, China's support for several
dictatorships that are hostile to the United States, its gaping trade
surplus and poor human rights record, and the always delicate question of
American backing for Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its sovereign
territory.
The countries have, arguably, become each other's biggest long-term threat.
But both sides also strive to avoid confrontation.
"The responsible elite in China has no intention of picking a fight with the
U.S.," said Jin Canrong, an expert on the United States at People's
University in Beijing. "But no one has much hope that the two countries can
develop deep feelings of trust, either."
Few expect that Hu will dispel that unease during his four-day visit. But he
is seen as having come around to the idea that China's overall foreign
policy objectives depend on a benign relationship with Washington. Chinese
officials say he is eager to have his maiden trip to the United States
perceived as a success.
Red and gold Chinese flags drape Seattle's International District in
celebration of Chinese President Hu Jintao's two-day stop here en route to
the other Washington. But some Seattle residents are not happy that the city
and state are rolling out the red carpet.
Hundreds of demonstrators are expected downtown after Hu's arrival Tuesday.
Practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement labeled an "evil cult" in
China, will be protesting oppression. Taiwanese-Americans will be asserting
that island nation's right to continued independence. Tibetans will be
calling for an end to China's rule of their homeland.
But for many, Hu's visit here - his first stop before going to Washington,
D.C. - is good news.
"There's pride in the International District about China's rise, and lots of
people will be quite happy that he's coming," said David Bachman, a
professor at the University of Washington's Jackson School of International
Studies.
Assunta Ng, who publishes the Northwest Asian weekly, said Hu's visit will
be a test of his diplomacy. "The world is watching," said Ng, who also
publishes the Chinese-language Seattle China Post, which last week offered a
12-page special section on Hu's visit.
Chinese-American community leaders organized a welcoming party "to
counteract the protest," said Ng, who plans to join other media, including
scores of reporters from China and Hong Kong, at Boeing Field for his
arrival.
There won't be many protests from labor, said David Grove with the
Washington State Labor Council. This is one state where the balance of trade
with China is not a problem, he said.
Just last week Beijing placed a tentative order for 80 Boeing jets, and Hu
planned to visit Boeing's Everett plant Wednesday.
Hu is dining Tuesday with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose company also
does big business with China. The Chinese president is also meeting with
Gov. Chris Gregoire and other Northwest leaders.
Tibet has been chafing under Chinese rule for decades - and, from 1988-1992,
under Hu's leadership there.
"When he was there, the big pro-independence demonstration in 1989 was
brutally cracked down under his orders," said Tenzin Wangyal of Seattle,
whose family followed the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning
spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, into exile in India.
Wangyal said he expects about 100 people, members of the Tibetan Youth
Congress, Students for a Free Tibet and supporters from Seattle,
Portland and Vancouver, B.C.
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World Tibet Network NewsPublished by the Canada Tibet CommitteeMonday, April 17, 2006 |
10. China's leader to visit Seattle Hu likely will see protests, adulation during Seattle visit
He'll meet with Gates before heading to D.C.
JOSEPH KAHN BY PEGGY ANDERSEN; The Associated Press the New York Times
Last updated: April 17th, 2006
Talks with Microsoft's Bill Gates, a tour at Boeing and a meeting with
lawmakers are on the agenda in Seattle before China's leader heads off to
meet with President Bush.
BEIJING - China and the United States have engaged in public disputes about
trade, human rights, military spending and energy security, but just for a
moment last year, their leaders put briefing books aside and agreed to talk
privately.
With an aura of candor described as unusual for Chinese leaders, President
Hu Jintao told President Bush that fighting political corruption, rural
unrest, a widening wealth gap and severe pollution consumes nearly all his
time. He said domestic problems left China with neither the will nor the
means to challenge America's dominance in world affairs, according to two
White House officials who were told about the session.
The overture - described as having improved Hu's ties with Bush - is part of
a Chinese effort to reduce U.S. anxiety about the country's growing
economic, political and military power.
The Chinese president visits Seattle this week before heading to Washington
to meet with Bush.
Hu plans to visit Microsoft and dine with its chairman, Bill Gates, on
Tuesday. Human rights and media watchdog groups have pressed Gates to raise
concerns about China's online censorship and arrest of cyber-dissidents. Hu
will also tour Boeing's aircraft factory before continuing on to Washington,
D.C., on Thursday.
In Seattle, Hu has invited a small group of American statesmen and scholars
to discuss bilateral relations with him privately, an event that the
countries agreed to keep off the official agenda to encourage candor,
participants said.
Is 'peaceful rise' possible?
The Seattle session was organized by Zheng Bijian, a former head of the
Communist Party's main training academy for party cadres, who coined the
term "peaceful rise." The concept of peaceful rise, though only informally
endorsed by Hu, is intended to show that China believes that it can emerge
as a great power without following the violent path blazed by other
superpowers.
"There is a real effort at salesmanship going on," said one former Bush
administration official invited to participate in the private session. "He
wants to come across as charming and attentive to American concerns."
During Hu's first White House visit as China's leader, the question will be
whether the improved chemistry between the heads of the world's richest
nation and its fastest-rising rival can enhance a relationship that seems to
be stuck somewhere between tentative stability and stormy tension.
"At the top level, the two have become frank and pragmatic in discussing the
major issues between them," said Michael Green, the former director of Asian
affairs at the National Security Council who is now at Georgetown
University. "But China is also trying to expand its influence in the world
at the expense of the U.S., which is not something we are going to give them
a pass on."
Breakthroughs have been few
Bush has pledged to confront "every ruler and every nation" that resisted
the tide of democracy, but the relationship with authoritarian China tends
to resist breakthroughs.
Officials in the two countries seem fatigued by incremental talks on the
main issues that divide them. These include controlling nuclear
proliferation in Iran and North Korea, China's support for several
dictatorships that are hostile to the United States, its gaping trade
surplus and poor human rights record, and the always delicate question of
American backing for Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its sovereign
territory.
The countries have, arguably, become each other's biggest long-term threat.
But both sides also strive to avoid confrontation.
"The responsible elite in China has no intention of picking a fight with the
U.S.," said Jin Canrong, an expert on the United States at People's
University in Beijing. "But no one has much hope that the two countries can
develop deep feelings of trust, either."
Few expect that Hu will dispel that unease during his four-day visit. But he
is seen as having come around to the idea that China's overall foreign
policy objectives depend on a benign relationship with Washington. Chinese
officials say he is eager to have his maiden trip to the United States
perceived as a success.
Red and gold Chinese flags drape Seattle's International District in
celebration of Chinese President Hu Jintao's two-day stop here en route to
the other Washington. But some Seattle residents are not happy that the city
and state are rolling out the red carpet.
Hundreds of demonstrators are expected downtown after Hu's arrival Tuesday.
Practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement labeled an "evil cult" in
China, will be protesting oppression. Taiwanese-Americans will be asserting
that island nation's right to continued independence. Tibetans will be
calling for an end to China's rule of their homeland.
But for many, Hu's visit here - his first stop before going to Washington,
D.C. - is good news.
"There's pride in the International District about China's rise, and lots of
people will be quite happy that he's coming," said David Bachman, a
professor at the University of Washington's Jackson School of International
Studies.
Assunta Ng, who publishes the Northwest Asian weekly, said Hu's visit will
be a test of his diplomacy. "The world is watching," said Ng, who also
publishes the Chinese-language Seattle China Post, which last week offered a
12-page special section on Hu's visit.
Chinese-American community leaders organized a welcoming party "to
counteract the protest," said Ng, who plans to join other media, including
scores of reporters from China and Hong Kong, at Boeing Field for his
arrival.
There won't be many protests from labor, said David Grove with the
Washington State Labor Council. This is one state where the balance of trade
with China is not a problem, he said.
Just last week Beijing placed a tentative order for 80 Boeing jets, and Hu
planned to visit Boeing's Everett plant Wednesday.
Hu is dining Tuesday with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose company also
does big business with China. The Chinese president is also meeting with
Gov. Chris Gregoire and other Northwest leaders.
Tibet has been chafing under Chinese rule for decades - and, from 1988-1992,
under Hu's leadership there.
"When he was there, the big pro-independence demonstration in 1989 was
brutally cracked down under his orders," said Tenzin Wangyal of Seattle,
whose family followed the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning
spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, into exile in India.
Wangyal said he expects about 100 people, members of the Tibetan Youth
Congress, Students for a Free Tibet and supporters from Seattle,
Portland and Vancouver, B.C.
Articles in this Issue:
- Dalai Lama Enlisted To Change Islam Image
- Dalai Lama Pleads for Defending Islam
- Islam is a religion of compassion: Dalai Lama
- Giant Mao statue erected in Tibet
- Dalai Lama's Tibet visit likely in July
- Dalai Lama has message of learning
- Fake Tibetan Medicine May Cause Serious Legal Problems
- Don't protest Hu's US visit'
- Seattle Tibetans Not to Demonstrate Hu's Visit
- China's leader to visit Seattle Hu likely will see protests, adulation during Seattle visit
- Hu Jintao grant Tibet's independence
- JUST LISTEN TO KASHAG
- White House Out to Lunch With China Hu Jintao is anxious to please, but the U.S. remains aloof
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