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Skriven 2005-11-19 23:33:06 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0511197) for Sat, 2005 Nov 19
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Press Briefing on the President's Visit to China by Mike Green, Special
Assistant to the President for NSA and Faryar Shirzad, Deputy Assistant to
the President and Deputy NSA for International Economic Affairs
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 19, 2005

Press Briefing on the President's Visit to China by Mike Green, Special
Assistant to the President for NSA and Faryar Shirzad, Deputy Assistant to
the President and Deputy NSA for International Economic Affairs
Aboard Air Force One
En route Beijing, People's Republic of China




5:13 P.M. (Local)

MR. GREEN: We're on our way to Beijing. The President's official program
begins tomorrow morning. He'll go to Gangwashi Church to worship in the
morning. He then has a meeting with President Hu, and then a meeting with
President Wen - excuse me, with Premier Wen, and then a social lunch with
the Premier. In the afternoon, he will go mountain bike riding with Chinese
athletes who are training for the Olympics; talk to them a bit about their
experience and their aspirations. And then in the evening he has a social
dinner with the Chinese leadership.

In terms of the major themes for the President's visit to China, he 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. So on issues where we
are working well together, we're going to try to do even more. We'll try to
find new areas to expand our cooperation. And in areas where we don't see
things the same, the President will be candid, as he always has been, with
his Chinese counterparts.

At the top of the list, of course, will be North Korea and how to ensure
that the September 19th statement of principles achieved in the six-party
talks is fully implemented by North Korea, leading to the complete
dismantlement of all of North Korea's nuclear weapons and nuclear programs,
and opening up the possibility for a transformation of the Korean Peninsula
and a resolution of long-standing issues, such as the movement from an
armistice to a permanent peace mechanism, human rights and other issues on
the peninsula.

Secondly, the President will also talk about economic issues. He will be
working to strengthen opportunities for America's workers, for America's
farmers. He met with President Hu in New York in September, of course,
pressed on these issues. President Hu issued a good statement at the time
on intellectual property rights and his own commitment to strengthening
enforcement of intellectual property rights protection in China, something
that he said is good for China; and other steps to create a more balanced
playing field in U.S.-China economic relations. The President will be
looking for some concrete action to follow up on that commitment. He'll be
pushing for movement towards a flexible market based currency system in
China, as he did in New York, and also on beef and some other bilateral
trade issues, such as government procurement.

In addition to the economic issues, the President will be talking to
President Hu and his Chinese counterparts about things that he believes
they should do to strengthen Chinese society by giving more opportunities
for Chinese citizens to worship, to speak freely and to exercise other
rights, and also to form a civil society with non-governmental
organizations that would help to buttress Chinese society at a time when
China is undergoing important changes. President Hu has articulated to
President Bush this notion of peaceful development. It's clear, as the
President said in his speech in Kyoto, that President Hu wants to make the
Chinese people more prosperous. That's a good thing. But it's also
important, as the President will tell him, to give the Chinese people full
opportunities to worship and to speak and to exercise their full rights
freely.

There are other issues. The President will talk about China's role in the
world. China's responsible as a stakeholder, as a permanent member of the
Security Council to make progress with us on issues with Syria, with Sudan,
with Iran and so forth - with Burma, for example. And on the Taiwan
question, the President will reiterate our consistent position, which is
that we have a one China policy based on the three communiqu s; we do not
support Taiwan's independence; we oppose unilateral moves by either side to
try to change the status quo; and we want to see more dialogue between
Beijing and Taipei, and particularly dialogue between the governments,
because the dialogue thus far has been between the government and Beijing
and the opposition and other non-governmental organizations in Taipei.

That's the general thrust of what the President will be talking about. We
have a very rich and diverse agenda with the Chinese. And he'll have
opportunities in a series of meetings with the Chinese leadership to
address all of these issues.

Q Will there be any live coverage of the President's appearances? Do you
know what China's television plans to do as the President moves around
tomorrow?

MR. GREEN: The President will be making comments to the press, together
with President Hu, after their meeting. He'll also, I believe, be televised
- at least in part - during his interactions with the Chinese Olympic
athletes, and there may be other opportunities. And we've made it clear to
our Chinese hosts that the President's message is one that is positive
about U.S.-China relations and should be heard by all Chinese citizens,
just as when President Hu comes to the United States, his message is heard
in full by the American people.

Q So what do you mean by that? Are you saying that - have you requested
that they give live coverage? Or what do you mean?

MR. GREEN: We put it to them just the way I just said.

Q Will they carry the statements live or have coverage?

MR. GREEN: We don't know exactly how they'll cover these things. There is
Chinese CCTV, the Chinese state television, there's Phoenix TV, they have
radio, they have a variety of media outlets, there is print media. But the
basic expectation we have, and we've made it clear to them, is that they
should give the Chinese people an opportunity to hear everything the
President has to say about U.S.-China relations, just as we give the
American people and the American press every opportunity to hear what
President Hu has to say about U.S.-China relations. It's part of how we're
going to have to strengthen our relationship, by letting people hear the
leaders on both sides convey their hopes and expectations for the
relationship.

Q Why no questions? Why no questions at the joint appearance? Was that
broached?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, they're doing statements at this appearance, and
you'll be covering the President throughout the day tomorrow.

Q Why no questions? Was that the Chinese decision or your decision?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, these are always things we discuss with the host
government.

Q Which was it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Sorry?

Q Who said "no"?

MR. McCLELLAN: These are always things we discuss with the host government.

Q The President's visit to church, what's the message he's hoping to send
to the government and what's the message he's hoping to send to the people
of China?

MR. GREEN: Of course, it's Sunday, so the President will want to worship.
But it's also important that the world see and that the Chinese people see
that expression of faith is a good thing for a healthy and mature society.

The church where he will worship is a church that is often called a
state-sponsored church, but it's a real church and people really do
worship, and it is a real religious service and the parishioners are real
people of faith who are congregating to express that faith.

But there are many other religions in China. There are Muslims, there are
Buddhists, Tibetan Buddhists, who have more opportunities to worship and to
congregate and express their faith than Chinese did a generation ago, or
even a decade ago. But there is still much to be done. And the message for
the Chinese government is the same message the President has given
President Hu before, which is that allowing all Chinese citizens to give
full and free expression of their faith is something that's not a threat to
the state, it's something, as he said in his Kyoto speech, that makes for a
stronger and more mature and stable society, which, ultimately, really
should be in Chinese interest and consistent with President Hu's own vision
for China's future.

Q What was the feedback from the Chinese after the Kyoto speech?

MR. GREEN: You've seen, I think, the Chinese Foreign Minister statements.
But it's not a new element in our dialogue with the Chinese. And it's not a
new theme for the President - he talks about freedom everywhere he goes. He
talks about it with the Chinese; it's been a feature of our discussions.

You'll note that Secretary Rice, when she came to China last, gave a speech
which had some similar themes. It is a regular part of our discourse; the
Chinese recognize that. They have engaged in discussions with the President
on this before. President Jiang did, and now President Hu has done the
same. And they expect it.

Q The President going to make his case for China to move toward currency
flexibility, is this something that he's going to express concern about the
- the protectionist sentiment in the U.S.? Or is this something he's going
to say that China needs to do for its own benefit?

MR. GREEN: In general on these economic issues with China, we've taken an
approach that these are steps - whether it's intellectual property rights
protection or moving to a market based exchange rate system - that are in
China's own economic interests in the near-term and the long-term. We have
discussions in the joint economic committee, in the joint committee on
commerce and trade at all levels, working levels and senior levels, with
the Chinese side. They're productive discussions.

So the premise is that these are steps that are good for China's own
economic future, but they're also important for the U.S. and for China's
role in the global economy.

MR. SHIRZAD: That's right. Remember, it's not just the United States that
has raised the issue of the importance of flexibility in China's exchange
rate - the IMF, the G7, and other international observers, and probably
most experts that look at the issue - understand that ultimately for a
maturing economy like China's, they need to have an exchange rate mechanism
that's responsive to market forces. And Secretary Snow and the team at
Treasury have done a good job both in terms of public discourse, but also
in terms of private discussions with the Chinese to express the importance
of their making a move to fully implement the commitments they made on July
21st regarding implementing a market based flexible exchange rate
mechanism.

Q So just clarify for me, does flexibility from the U.S.'s perspective mean
a full float at some point? Or how do you see the steps that it needs to
take playing out?

MR. SHIRZAD: Well, there are different exchange regimes that countries
have. The question is whether they Chinese will allow market forces to help
drive the movement of their currency. Right now, they control it very
tightly, and the question is whether they will implement what they said on
the 21st, which is to make their exchange rate mechanism more responsive.
They're clearly at a point now where they've moved beyond the full, rigid
peg that they had before July 21st. And they need to move. We understand
the move to full flexibility will have to be gradual and implemented over
time, but it's really time for them to begin to move much further than they
have already.

Q Faryar, if you really wanted to pressure them to take steps, one action
you could take is to get them labeled a currency manipulator. Do you think
that step is warranted at this time?

MR. SHIRZAD: Well, the issue of how they get characterized in Treasury's
semi-annual report is really something for Treasury to issue in its report.
They'll be issuing their report, the fall iteration of that report fairly
soon, and so we'll see what they have to say. I don't want to prejudge or
preempt what they have to say.

But remember, ultimately, the issue is not to pressure the Chinese;
ultimately, the issue is to make them understand that for their own benefit
they need to make this move. I think they do, it's just matter of how
quickly they'll implement it.

Q Do you have a time frame of when you want to see action? And are you
expecting near-term action on this?

MR. SHIRZAD: I don't want to cite an artificial time frame on it. I think
they understand, though, for their own sake they need to get moving on this
and implement what they said they wanted to do on July 21st.

Q Can I ask how you guys chose the church where the President is going to
worship?

MR. GREEN: This is a church where other senior visitors from the United
States - including, I think, if I'm correct, the most recent visitor would
have been our former Secretary of Commerce -- and so it's one where people
have worshiped before and have seen that while it is sanctioned by the
state, the parishioners and the ministers are expressing their faith fully.
So it's an opportunity to worship in a genuine way, and convey to the
Chinese people the personal importance the President places on this for any
society.

Q Mike, you've given a fairly long list of concerns that you have: freedom
of worship, the currency, trade, things like that. You said that you expect
it to be a candid discussion. Are you expecting it to be tense, I mean,
with this very long list of things that you have concerns about?

MR. GREEN: No, I don't, because for President Hu there probably is no
relationship more important in the world than with the United States and
with the U.S. President. As China develops its economy, defines its role in
the world, it's of critical importance to the Chinese leaders to have good
relations with us and to make sure that we are supportive of China's goals
and not proposing them.

So it's important, very important for the Chinese leadership to have
successful meetings with the U.S. President, to have candid discussions and
to try to work to expand the areas of cooperation.

The Chinese side, our counterparts often describe these meetings officially
as cooperative and constructive; they rarely mention them as candid. But we
think candid is an important part of it, as I said, and the Chinese in the
meetings are also candid and increasingly frank and honest and flexible in
the discussions. Remember, the President saw President Hu in New York in
September. They had a pretty long meeting; I think it was about 90 minutes.
He'll see him again sometime next year, when the rescheduling of the
postponed visit to Washington takes place. He has met him before. And so
this is an ongoing dialogue that the two leaders have and these are issues
that we've been working through with the Chinese steadily from the
beginning.

Q Is it equally important for the United States to have good relations with
China?

MR. GREEN: The President is optimistic about U.S.-China relations. China's
growing role in the world is probably one of the greatest variables in
international relations - that, and the other is where the future of Islam
and terror and so forth goes. But, certainly, the rise of China's role in
the world is one of the most important variables we all face and the
President is optimistic about U.S.-China relations, but believes that to
make progress we have to expand the areas of cooperation, but also be very
candid about the areas where we disagree. And we've addressed many of those
issues. And we've also made progress in areas where we're cooperating, like
the six-party talks, where we made an important step forward on the
September statement of principles.

Q Mike, some analysts believe the United States has been a little
disengaged in recent years in the region, generally, and that the Chinese
have stepped in to fill a vacuum in some respects. How do you respond to
that?

MR. GREEN: I think that the easiest answer to that question is to look at
the APEC leaders' statement that just came out, where the President's
leadership and U.S. leadership is in black and white, and you have the 21
leading economies of this region signing on to an agenda that we worked
collaboratively with them, but where U.S. leadership was critically
important. Three years ago in APEC, the President - together with Prime
Minister Thaksin of Thailand, who was the host - put forward a vision of
APEC where we would expand cooperation not only on economic integration and
liberalization, but also on security issues. And in this meeting, that
security agenda - whether it's counter-terrorism or avian influenza or
other issues that threaten the economies of this region - is firmly in
place, the cooperation is good.

So that's where the rubber hits the road, in meetings like this, in
agreements like this, in cooperation on issues like avian influenza,
counter-terrorism and trade liberalization and pushing for a successful
Doha round, is concrete progress and I think it's very clear in the
leaders' statement. It's true that China's presence in Asia and in the
world is growing, as you would expect from a nation that has such
successful GDP growth. And that's not necessarily a threat to anyone.

But in terms of the region's agenda, making progress on issues that are of
common interest, I think the President's leadership in this most recent
APEC round really speaks for itself.

Q What about the bird flu, will there be specific discussions about that
with President Hu?

MR. GREEN: Yes, the Chinese have been forthcoming on bird flu. I think the
SARS experience taught them that for their own internal interests and for
their role in the world, they need to be swift and transparent. And so they
were very quick to agree with us to cooperate on our international aviation
influenza initiative launched at the U.N. in September. They were very
helpful as we put together the APEC initiative on avian influenza. And we
expect to build on that and discuss with the Chinese some further bilateral
initiatives that we can implement to help China deal with a possible
pandemic and to strengthen U.S.-China relations in this area.

MR. McCLELLAN: And as you know, they had a good discussion about it in New
York, as well.

Q Is the President taking any part in this Boeing ceremony tomorrow, the
sale of - no?

MR. GREEN: I don't think so, but it's a very important thing and I think
it's a testament to how our approach to China is yielding real results - in
this case, an order for seventy 737 aircraft from Boeing.

Q Thank you.

END 5:30 P.M. (Local)
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