Tensions Take a Break as Hu and Bush Talk

WASHINGTON — President Bush met Wednesday with Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, who is expected to assume leadership of the world’s most populous nation next year, as U.S.-China relations waver despite growing contacts on terrorism and trade.

During their half-hour meeting in the Oval Office, Bush expressed appreciation for China’s support in the U.S.-led counter-terrorism campaign and called for stronger ties, according to administration officials.

Bush “talked about the importance of U.S.-China relations and said he is pleased with the relationship,” White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said. “The president expressed his belief that the United States and China can work well together on a wide range of issues.”

After the meeting, Hu described the talks as “quite good.”

In a speech Wednesday night, Hu said he was “deeply impressed” by what he had seen and heard.

“I have a strong feeling that although China and the U.S. differ in historical background and cultural tradition, the two peoples are eager to see the relationship grow,” he said.

But the visit, Hu’s debut on the world stage, comes as Beijing is increasingly frustrated over Washington’s policies toward Taiwan and what China views as a Pentagon-driven effort to bolster the island’s military capabilities, according to U.S. and Chinese analysts. The United States last year announced an arms sales package to Taiwan that for the first time included submarines.

Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory, is the foremost issue in dispute between the two nations.

In his speech, Hu called on the United States to “strictly honor” its commitments to China on Taiwan.

“Properly handling this question is the key to promoting our constructive and cooperative relations,” Hu said. “If any trouble occurs on the Taiwan question, it would be difficult for China-U.S. relations to move forward, and a retrogression may even occur.”

The arms sales package and a quiet upgrading of ties with Taipei have led to growing concern in China and pressure on President Jiang Zemin, who is scheduled to visit the United States this fall.

“Jiang Zemin is under a great deal of pressure to demonstrate that his conciliatory line to Washington is paying off, but so far there is no evidence suggesting that it is,” said Minxin Pei, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington public policy center.

China’s leadership is confused by Bush’s call for better cooperation with Beijing while the administration is building up security ties with Taipei, Pei said.

China’s need for calm as it begins the transition from Jiang’s leadership has prevented a major flap, analysts say. But any further U.S. actions benefiting Taiwan could precipitate a showdown, especially after the transition is complete. Hu is expected to become head of China’s Communist Party this fall and take over the country’s presidency next year.

In his meeting with Hu, which lasted 10 minutes longer than scheduled, Bush reiterated the long-standing U.S. policy favoring peaceful resolution of differences between Taiwan and the mainland.

“We do not wish to see provocation on either side of the Taiwan Strait,” Fleischer said.

But Kenneth Lieberthal, a China scholar at the University of Michigan who advised the National Security Council during Bill Clinton’s presidency, said the Bush administration has “pushed the Taiwan issue both substantively and symbolically in a way that has the effect of jerking China’s chain. This is an issue poised to move back to the center of the relationship.”

“Hu wants a good relationship. Bush does too. But there are very serious issues that could turn this relationship in a bad direction pretty quickly,” he said.

A wide gap between the two countries on human rights issues was evident Tuesday during Hu’s visit to Capitol Hill, where he declined to accept four letters from members of Congress appealing for release of political prisoners and greater attention to human rights.

Since Bush’s second trip to China, in February, China has not released any dissidents, according to Human Rights Watch.

“The administration must step up the pressure. There’s been no improvement in human rights in China this year, and conditions worsened in some ways last year,” said Mike Jendrzejczyk of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch.

Beijing is also using the war on terrorism to justify a crackdown on ethnic Uighurs in western region of Xinjiang, he added.

Hu’s visit, officially hosted by Vice President Dick Cheney, focused on issues including human rights, terrorism, trade and economic development, China’s missile technology exports and U.S. missile defense. Hu brought up Taiwan during dinner with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Tuesday and during a luncheon with Cheney on Wednesday, U.S. officials said.

The visit is not expected to yield any formal agreements, although the administration used it to prod China to curtail export of its weapons technology to nations hostile to the United States. In turn, Beijing wants Washington to lift an embargo that prevents American companies from using Chinese rockets to launch satellites.

“For very different reasons, China and the United States need this visit to go smoothly. China wants nothing to interfere with an orderly leadership transition in the fall. The United States wants nothing to detract from a perception of global solidarity against terrorism,” said Kurt Campbell, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.