Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) yesterday rebuffed US President George W. Bush's calls to allow greater religious and political freedom but promised to show more flexibility on Sino-US economic disputes.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Washington was complaining "vociferously" to Beijing after Chinese authorities took forceful steps to keep dissidents and activists out of sight during Bush's visit here.
After a 90-minute meeting at the Great Hall of the People, Bush and his host pledged to keep relations between the US and China on track and talk through what Hu described as "inevitable" tensions.
As their talks got under way, Boeing signed a US$4 billion deal in Beijing to supply 70 737 aircraft to China.
"Win-win cooperation is the mainstream of China-US relations," Hu said, and promised to work to reduce economic tensions on issues such as currency reform and a massive bilateral trade imbalance that favors China.
The two leaders agreed to pursue joint efforts to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis through six-country talks, and to ramp up cooperation to battle the spread of avian flu amid fears of a global pandemic.
Bush, who began his day on a symbolic note by going to church, said: "It is important that social, political and religious freedoms grow in China. And we encourage China to continue making the historic transition to greater freedom."
Hu said that China was "continuously raising the level of human rights enjoyed by" its people, but that progress must reflect "China's national conditions" and that the country would have "democratic politics with Chinese characteristics."
On the economic front, Hu said Beijing would "unswervingly press ahead" with currency reform and "gradually" cut its massive trade surplus with the US, which was expected to run to about US$200 billion this year.
The US side reported no breakthroughs yesterday, but pointed to less tangible signs of success, with one senior Bush aide insisting that Hu had been more specific in promising to crack down on rampant counterfeiting of US goods.
Tackling another perennial irritant in Sino-US relations, Taiwan, Hu said that Beijing was "committed to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits" but warned that "we will by no means tolerate so-called Taiwan independence."
The two leaders said they would next meet in the US early next year -- a visit that will replace Hu's planned trip in September, which was indefinitely postponed because of Hurricane Katrina.
But even as Bush underlined the importance of human rights, China detained or put under house arrest at least a dozen dissidents and activists to keep them from being heard.
Authorities on Wednesday started sending officers to stand guard outside the homes of a number of intellectuals and activists while detaining others in out-of-town guesthouses, sources said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan is keeping a close eye on the meeting between Hu and Bush, the foreign ministry said yesterday.
Taipei believes its interests will not be dented during Bush's China visit, an acting foreign ministry spokesman said, adding however: "It's reasonable to be cautious towards the closed-door meeting because we don't know what's going on there."
But "as of now, our observation is that the two sides have not reached an agreement, with Bush voicing his stance on democracy and freedom while Hu renewing `one China,'" Wang said.
Wang said he believed Taipei would receive a briefing from Washington on the content of the meeting regarding Taiwan.
The remarks came after Hu made a statement following his meeting with Bush in Beijing.
"I reaffirmed to President Bush that the Chinese government and Chinese people are committed to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," Hu said. "And we're ready to do our utmost with all sincerity to strive for the prospect of a peaceful reunification of our country.
"This being said, we will by no means tolerate so-called Taiwan independence," he said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday also said that "one has to be concerned" about China's growing military clout in Asia.
"One has to be concerned by increasing Chinese military power," she told reporters after Bush met Hu. "There's a question of intent."
"The Chinese continue to say that it is their intention to have a course of peaceful development. I think our view is that if that is the case, then that would be a very good thing," she said.
"But, obviously, both in terms of our own military presence and forces, we expect that we will be able to keep a balance in this region," she said.
"The United States has been active in pursuing balance and security and peace in this region for now almost 60 years, and we're going to continue to do that," she said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS