It’s Mostly Business as Bush Meets Hu in China

President Bush secured assurances today that China would move to reduce its huge trade surplus with the United States and “step up” protections for intellectual property rights.

Chinese President Hu Jintao made the commitments during an appearance with Bush after the two held a lengthy meeting at the Great Hall of the People across from Tiananmen Square.

Although Hu acknowledged that there were “frictions” that needed to be addressed, no proposals were announced and the two leaders took no questions.

The presidents met days after Bush delivered a speech in Japan urging China to hasten political reform and expand religious freedom.

Hu said after the meeting that China’s commitment to “peaceful development,” his phrase for slow but steady reform, was a “choice that China must make in light of its national conditions ... and also a choice that China must make in light of the current trend in the development of the world.”

But, despite criticisms that his government still holds political prisoners and limits religious freedom, Hu insisted that much had been accomplished.

“The Chinese people are exercising their right of democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision, according to law,” he said.

Speaking later, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was skeptical about Hu’s comments.

Highlighting the issue of religious freedom, Bush earlier attended a state-approved Protestant church in the capital, then quickly shifted to the primary focus of his two-day stay, meeting privately with Hu to discuss trade, North Korea and efforts to prevent a bird flu pandemic.

He also was scheduled to ride his mountain bike with Chinese athletes. The event, intended to promote China’s status as the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, was expected to receive widespread coverage by the state-run media.

Bush arrived as administration officials hailed China’s decision to buy 70 new 737 aircraft from Chicago-based Boeing Co. as a “testament to how our approach to China is yielding real results.” Signaling his chief interest here, Bush focused entirely on business and trade issues when he taped his weekly radio address in Beijing.

He did not mention the human rights concerns that made headlines in his speech Wednesday from Kyoto, Japan. His praise of rival Taiwan in the speech as a model for broader democratic reforms in the mainland drew protests from Chinese government officials.

Before this third visit to China as president, Bush said he intended to demand “free and fair” trade, a catchphrase intended to satisfy industries that want access to Chinese markets while mollifying labor advocates and other critics who worry that free trade hurts workers.

Bush also said he would raise the festering issue of the low value of China’s currency, which allows Chinese products to sell competitively on the world market. Hu later said China would press ahead in this area as well.

“Access to American markets has played an important role in China’s economic development,” Bush said. “And China needs to provide a level playing field for American farmers and businesses seeking access to China’s market.”

The China visit came near the end of a weeklong trip to Asia that, in addition to trade issues and the North Korea nuclear threat, has been shadowed by questions about Iraq.

On his way to China from South Korea, where he huddled with Pacific Rim leaders as part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Bush stopped at Osan Air Base to deliver an attack on critics calling for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

The president received an enthusiastic welcome from hundreds of airmen and soldiers stationed near the demilitarized zone separating South Korea from the communist North, but applause was more restrained when he predicted that withdrawing the troops from Iraq would be a “recipe for disaster.”

Both South Korea and Japan are pondering at least partial withdrawals of their forces in Iraq.

Bush’s remarks were prompted by a call in Washington for U.S. withdrawal by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a hawkish Marine veteran.

Bush’s visit to China underscored the sensitive nature of the relationship with a fast-rising economic and military superpower that is challenging the United States for influence in Asia and around the world.

Bush “begins with the starting premise that we are in a position to strengthen U.S.-China relations and that we can do so based on a comprehensive and a cooperative and a constructive and a candid dialogue,” Mike Green, a White House advisor on Asia, told reporters.

The importance of nuance was evident from the outset.

Bush avoided a potentially provocative gesture by choosing to attend a church approved by the Communist Party. And although he pointed to Taiwan as a democratic model, Bush reiterated his opposition to official independence for the island.

China has pursued closer ties with North Korea and Iran, two countries that U.S. officials believe are trying to construct nuclear weapons. The U.S. needs China’s help in talks with North Korea that also involve South Korea, Japan and Russia, to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

On trade, Bush said the agreement struck this month to ease restrictions on U.S. imports of Chinese textiles and clothing to the U.S. demonstrated that, “with hard work and determination, we can come together to resolve difficult trading issues.”

White House aides said Bush expected “concrete” action by China to follow up on Hu’s promise during a September meeting in New York to crack down on rampant violations of intellectual property rights.

Some critics have accused Bush of allowing the U.S. trade deficit with China to approach $200 billion and giving Hu’s government extraordinary control over the U.S. economy.

Bush’s visit to the church was likely to satisfy a key political constituency at home: Christian evangelicals.

The Gangwashi Protestant church in central Beijing is barely visible from the street, wedged between a florist, a mobile phone shop and a bridal dress store.

The location of the century-old church underscores Beijing’s ambiguous attitude toward religion. Even as the officially atheist Communist government tolerates it, it is wary of any organization that might threaten it politically.

The result is official churches: those like Gangwashi whose clerics answer to Communist Party authorities, and unofficial “house” or “underground” churches, whose members are tolerated or persecuted, depending on local conditions. White House officials said the worship was genuine, even if the church was overseen by the state.

“May God bless the Christians of China,” the president wrote in the guest book.

Gangwashi member Huang Xiaoluan said, “His visit will draw the attention of a lot of people.”