Bush Says U.S. and China Can Have ‘Good Relations’ Despite Differences

President Bush and Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen made no apparent progress on an array of difficult bilateral issues Thursday, ending their meeting five minutes shy of the allotted hour.

Nevertheless, Bush told Qian that he believes the United States and China can have “good relations,” a senior Bush administration official said after the session.

Bush and Qian disagreed on issues of human rights and religious freedom but agreed on the need to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, said the official, who spoke with U.S. and Chinese reporters in the White House briefing room. The official spoke on condition of anonymity--a fairly common practice for senior members of the administration involved in briefing reporters on sensitive diplomatic talks.

He described the encounter--the president’s first with a top Chinese official--as “a very constructive and cordial meeting.”

And he quoted Bush as telling Qian, who is China’s top foreign affairs official: “I’m going to look you in the eye and tell you we can have good relations with China. . . . I want to lay the foundation for 30 years from now, taking a long-term view.”

The official indicated that the bilateral discussions will continue.

“We have to be able to talk about our differences. This is the view of the president. He’s expressed it several times,” he said.

“They’re going to have areas of agreement, areas of disagreement. . . . On those areas where we agree, we build on common ground. On areas where we disagree, we discuss them and try to work through them. Obviously, if we have major areas of disagreement, it’s going to take a little while to work through them.”

According to the official, Bush also sought to reassure the Chinese about Washington’s peaceful intentions, despite their fears about his desire to build a missile defense system.

“Nothing we do is a threat to you, and I want you to tell that to your leadership,” Bush told Qian, the official said.

He added that Qian “listened politely and carefully, and made no expression one way or the other.”

Virtually every issue of contention between the two countries was aired during the White House Oval Office meeting, the official said.

“One of the areas that was mentioned is that we have different views about human rights, and our views may be different from your views, but they’re important to us,” the official said.

Bush and the vice premier also discussed efforts by Beijing to join the World Trade Organization; regional security issues, including the possible U.S. sale of arms to Taiwan; and Bush’s October trip to China.

Earlier this week, Qian said in New York that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, could inflict “very serious” harm on Sino-U.S. relations.

But at the White House meeting, the president reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act, which obligates the United States to help defend the island. The men did not discuss the specifics of the proposed arms sale, which may include guided missile destroyers that could be upgraded to become part of a missile defense system.

Bush also raised with Qian the detention in China of a Chinese-born political scientist from American University in Washington who is suspected of “engaging in activities damaging state security.”

Qian told Bush that the scholar, Gao Zhan, “may or may not have realized that she had a violation,” according to the administration official.

“They’re going to look into it and get back to us,” he said.

The lack of progress between Bush and Qian came as no surprise to either side. Both men had foreshadowed their expectations for the meeting at its start during their brief remarks to reporters.

“There will be areas where we can find agreement, such as trade; there will be some areas where we have some disagreements,” Bush said.

Qian added: “Where we have shared interests, we can advance our relationship forward. Where we disagree, we can have a very good exchange of views. Some issues can be approached in the spirit of seeking common ground, while shelving the differences.”

The Bush-Qian meeting came at a time when the new president finds himself in a tense relationship with not only Beijing but also Moscow, having just ordered a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats.

Earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also adopted a tough stance during his meeting with Qian at the Pentagon.

Rumsfeld stressed that in future bilateral military exchanges, the U.S. wants parity.

For example, if Chinese officers are allowed to see a U.S. fighter base, the Pentagon would like to have U.S. officers allowed access to a Chinese fighter base in return--”and not to, perhaps, a helicopter search and rescue facility, or something that isn’t equal,” said Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman.

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Times staff writer Paul Richter contributed to this report.