O.C. Asian-Americans Hear Bush China Plea : Rally: President praises immigrants’ strides in this country, lobbies for his version of civil rights legislation.

President Bush on Sunday defended his willingness to deal with China and his opposition to the Democratic civil rights bill, telling a supportive crowd of Asian- and Pacific-Americans that his Administration favors “brushing away arbitrary discrimination” abroad and at home.

At Mile Square Regional Park, a shirt-sleeved Bush appeared under a red, white and blue balloon arch in a scene resembling a political campaign stop, and mixed foreign and domestic issues in his address to the throng that included many Asians, Arabs, Sikhs, Indians and Pacific Islanders.

White House officials estimated the crowd of cheering, flag-waving supporters at 40,000, some of whom had come from as far away as San Jose, San Diego and even New Orleans to glimpse Bush in the first-ever presidential tribute to Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent. Even the few protesters were polite as they waved placards and booed occasionally on issues ranging from sanctions against Iraq to the high cost of education and the need for a civil rights bill.

The President and First Lady Barbara Bush were guests of honor at the noon rally, sponsored by a coalition of Southern California Asian community groups. Bush sought support for two of his more controversial positions before an audience of the nation’s fastest growing ethnic minority group in one of the GOP’s political strongholds.

Later, the President wrapped up his weekend in Southern California, vowing to Jewish leaders in Los Angeles that racial and religious intolerance has no place in America.

“There is no room in this country for hate crimes,” he said at the Simon Wiesenthal Center tribute to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “We must raise our voices and the full force of law against every hate group, desecrater and demagogue, brown shirt or white sheet.”

Bush, who arrived in California on Saturday after delivering a commencement address at Northeastern University in Boston, was due to leave California early this morning for brief political stops in Grand Junction, Colo., and Milwaukee before returning to the White House tonight.

The Bushes arrived in Fountain Valley in a roaring caravan of military helicopters, kicking up clouds of dust in the center of park, a World War II-era naval training airfield. Many in the densely packed crowd strained toward the barricades for a better view, then scurried toward the festooned stage, where Asian community leaders mingled with congressional officials and local leaders to hear Bush’s speech.

After praising the strides of Asian-Americans in this country, he shifted to his administration’s foreign policy.

Speaking of China, Bush said: “Our policy relies on an obvious fact. To influence China, one cannot simply isolate China.”

Bush, who once served as U.S. ambassador to China, said his Administration’s approach had encouraged the Beijing government to allow Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi to leave the country. And he cited his veto of legislation intended to protect Chinese students living in the United States as erasing a possible excuse for Chinese officials to prevent students from studying in this country. Rather, he said, his policies led to 11,500 visas issued to Chinese students last year.

“That’s 11,500 opportunities lost if we had turned our back on China,” he said.

In a Yale University commencement address last month, Bush announced his plan to extend most-favored-nation trade status to China for another year. The status permits the Beijing government to sell goods in the United States with minimum quotas and tariffs.

Some congressional leaders favor a harder line against China in an effort to force improvements in its human rights policies and are seeking to eliminate the favorable trading status.

Meanwhile, White House officials said the President had executed a decision to impose restrictions on exports of high performance computers to China and to ban the transfer of technology for rocket-launched satellites to the Asian nation. Bush had announced his intentions to do so in the Yale address.

“We have expressed urgent concern to the Chinese government about exports of missile technology,” a White House statement said.

Bush made no mention of the statement in his address. Rather, he said: “We will continue urging China to reform internally and to rejoin the community of nations. We cannot be sure of success. We can be sure that without American dialogue the movement for reform in China will take a step backward.”

Bush repeatedly deviated from his prepared remarks to point out the many signs held by the crowd praising his foreign policies. At one point, he paused to shout his agreement with one sign calling for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s ouster. “I agree with you,” Bush said, adding that he would continue U.S. sanctions against Iraq “as long as the brutal Saddam Hussein remains in power.”

Turning to domestic issues, Bush acknowledged that the rapid growth of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. population has led to tensions among various minority groups. “Now, as always, we must commit ourselves to promoting equal rights for all Americans, not preferential treatment for some,” Bush said.

He praised his Administration’s civil rights record, citing by name the Asian-Americans appointed to important positions in his Administration and promising to veto the Democrats’ civil rights bill because he said it would promote quotas, a charge that the Democrats have denied.

While most in the crowd seemed strongly supportive of the President and his policies, some protesters paraded peacefully around the park carrying signs and banners critical of the Administration. One group of about 50 Filipino World War II veterans held up placards that demanded passage of legislation to grant them full military pay.

“America forgot us,” said Franco Arcebal of Buena Park. “Forty-six years ago, we fought a very cruel war. It was not our war. But when the war was over, they say, ‘Yes you served, but not for purposes of benefits.’ ”

Of about 150,000 Filipinos drafted by the U.S. Army, 50,000 have died, and about 10,000 are now U.S. citizens, said Arcebal, whose organization claims about 300 members.

“ ‘Till when shall I wait?” he asked, quoting his sign. “I’m 69 and they’re 76,” he said pointing to a handful of colleagues, some of whom said they were taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese.

Grace Yoo, a 24-year-old UC Riverside graduate student, said she felt compelled to come to the rally to “educate” Asians that Bush was not their friend. Wading against the tide of U.S. flags and pro-Bush signs, Yoo drew stares from many with her sign: “Mr. Bush, What have you done for Asian Americans?”

“I’m really worried about the hoopla,” she said. “I think many people are really uninformed about the President and his policies. Asian-Americans are too nice.”

But Yoo was outnumbered, as many in the crowd seemed to agree more with Frank Du, a 49-year-old structural engineer from Irvine. “This is a very important occasion,” Du said, adding that he voted for Bush in 1988 and plans to do so again in 1992. “Today the President is coming here to honor Asian-Americans. Asian-Americans deserve recognition and this is a step toward that.”

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), a Bush loyalist who stood on stage with the President Sunday, added: “The Asian-American community is where the (Latino) community was five years ago--on the verge of exploding. (They are) a major political power in this community. They have really arrived in the Bush years.”

The number of Asian-Americans in California has grown more than 116% in the last 10 years, hitting 2.7 million, or nearly 10% of the state’s population. In Orange County, the Asian-American population grew by 117% in the last decade, to a total of more than 240,000 people.

The Mile Square Park rally was organized by a committee representing 17 Asian communities, including Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Cambodian, Thai, Hmong, Samoan and Indian. It was originally planned for May, which Bush designated as Asian and Pacific American heritage month. But it was postponed when the President became ill with an irregular heartbeat.

Bush’s visit, though billed as a nonpolitical event, was a further testament to the high priority the Republican Party is giving to Asian-American communities, particularly in Orange County.

Last year, Vice President Dan Quayle opened a Republican campaign headquarters in Westminster’s Little Saigon neighborhood. And in the last three years, Gov. Pete Wilson, former Gov. George Deukmejian and Barbara Bush have all visited Orange County’s Southeast Asian neighborhoods, home of the largest Vietnamese population in the United States.

Later Sunday, at the Wiesenthal dinner at the Century Plaza, where actor-muscleman Schwarzenegger was honored for his participation in the center, Bush said that if Middle East peace is to occur, all sides must “muster the political will to make it happen.”

“If they do, the issues that divide them will fall away and the Middle East at last can begin the journey toward lasting peace,” he said.

The President’s day in Southern California was a full one. In the morning, he attended services at All Saints Church, an Episcopal parish in Beverly Hills. He then played tennis with Jane Willens and her daughter, Heather, an accomplished tennis player on the Stanford University team, at the Brentwood home of Brad Freeman of the Head sporting goods company.

Bush, hurrying to the tennis match, rushed away from the military aide carrying the briefcase known as the “football,” which contains nuclear war codes. For about 15 minutes, the President was out of contact with the secret satchel that invariably accompanies him. Also left in the President’s wake were his personal physician, an aide and several Secret Service agents. They caught up with Bush after a short chase down Sunset Boulevard.

Times staff writers Dave Lesher and Lynn Smith contributed to this report.