Scenesetter for Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao's Visit to the United States

Real Audio of Briefing

Copyright (c)2002 by Federal News Service, Inc., 620 National Press Building, Washington, DC 20045, USA.   For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service, please email Jack Graeme at info@fnsg.com or call (202) 824-0520.

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: I thought I would give you a little bit of a history of the invitation and what we understand about the trip here in the Washington segment of Vice President Hu's trip.

       We understand that he is on a trip that will last from April 27 through May 3rd. During that time, he's stopping in Honolulu, New York, Washington and San Francisco. The Washington stop is obviously at the latter half of the trip.

       He will -- while here, we expect the vice president to meet with Senate and House leadership, with the president and the vice president, with Secretary Powell, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary O'Neill, Secretary Evans, Secretary Chao, Ambassador Zoellick, and Dr. Rice.

       Secretary Powell will host the vice president for dinner this evening. Vice President Cheney will host the vice president, Hu, for a working lunch at the Naval Observatory -- that's the vice president's residence. And the president and the vice president will have meetings with Vice President Hu tomorrow.

       Mrs. Cheney will host Vice President Hu's wife, Madame Liu, in Washington for a private lunch and a tour of historic sites.

       The visit is in response to an invitation issued by Vice President Cheney to Vice President Hu in mid-January -- January 16.

       The vice foreign minister of China, on a visit to the United States, accepted the invitation on February 4. It was announce by President Bush and President Jiang when they were in Beijing on February 21st.

       I thought I'd read from you -- to you a little bit of the letter of invitation sent out on the 16th of January which helped set some of the scope of the trip.

       "We've seen many developments over the past year in our bilateral relations, culminating in our two presidents' meeting in Shanghai in October. As President Bush made clear then, the United States appreciates China's active participation in the international response to the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. Our developing cooperation against global terrorism is important to the American and Chinese people and to the promotion of global peace and prosperity.

       "I believe it is essential for us to maintain contact at senior levels, and I think that it would serve the interests of our countries and reflect the importance of the U.S.-China relationship if you could visit the United States this year. Such a visit would contribute to the maintenance of positive momentum in our bilateral relations and would give us a chance to explore means of deepening our ties in the future.

       "It is with the expectation that the relationship between the United States and Chinese people will grow in importance as this new century unfolds that I extend to you an invitation to visit the United States."

       And the letter concludes, after some other matter, "It is in the interests of both our countries for us to build on the solid foundations that our two presidents have established."

       That, again, is from the January 16 letter of invitation from Vice President Cheney to Vice President Hu.

       This visit follows on, of course, the two presidential visits. President Bush was in Shanghai last October and, because of the war on terror, which had begun only the month before, was forced to discontinue what was going to be a longer trip. But he promised to come back, and he went back in February of this year.

       In addition, Ambassador Zoellick has been to China twice. Ambassador Powell has been to China, as has -- excuse me -- Secretary Powell has been to China, as has Secretary O'Neill and Secretary Evans.

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: I will just amplify a little bit, putting it in context of the overall bilateral relationship. I think the events of September 11th reminded the people of China and the people of the United States that we share many common interests. This has resulted in very good cooperation between our two countries in the war against terrorism -- cooperation that our president has welcomed. President Bush seeks, as he has told the Chinese leadership, a candid, constructive and cooperative relationship with China. That is the context in which this visit is occurring.

       As -- (starts to say name of other briefer) -- as this other senior administration official has pointed out --

       Q (Chuckles.)

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: -- I wasn't going to give away his name there -- we have had two visits to China by President Bush within four months. In my memory, that's the first time ever.

       We hope to have President Jiang Zemin come to visit us later this year. That will be -- that will reinforce the level of connection, the degree of understanding between our two countries. Vice President Hu's trip is an important part of this effort.

       I will acknowledge that I said that part of this is a candid relationship. We are not going to disguise the fact that we don't have completely the same policy on every single issue. Differences will arise. That's why it's important that e continue to talk, that we continue to meet at the highest level to exchange views, to build on points of convergence and to try to diminish the points of divergence.

       I see a lot of my friends from Taiwan out there. I know we'll probably get asked a few questions on Taiwan. I will try to preempt them -- and probably fail -- by noting that the president has consistently said that what we seek is the peaceful resolution of the differences between the people on the two sides of the strait. We do not want to see provocation from either side of the strait. We feel that a resumption of dialogue between the peoples on the two sides of the strait is an important first step towards the eventual resolution of the problems.

       So with that, I think I'm over.

       MODERATOR: Gentlemen, for questions, please wait for the mike and introduce yourself by name and organization.

       Okay, Greg?

       Q Good afternoon. Greg Torode of the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong. If you could tell us a little more about possible U.S. concerns about China's cooperation on the war on terrorism, and specifically, what you'll be asking of Mr. Hu in that regard.

       Thank you.

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: As I said, actually we're very pleased with the cooperation we've gotten to date from the Chinese government on terrorism. There was immediately a lot of assistance in the United Nations Security Council. The Chinese government itself came up with the idea of using the APEC meeting in Shanghai as a vehicle to discuss a pan-Asian, pan-Pacific response to terrorism. We have had good cooperation on information sharing, and the Chinese government has tried to take the correct steps in terms of controlling financial flows to terrorists. So we are pleased to date with the cooperation.

       I will say that the effort is obviously not over. We continue to fight in Afghanistan. There are more questions that have to be addressed eventually.

       We look for the Chinese government to stand with us as we go on to address these questions to remain in the coalition against global terrorism.

       MODERATOR: Question right here.

       Q Hi. Nadia Tsao with the Liberty Times, Taiwan. Can we confirm with you that tomorrow when the two vice presidents meet, will there be a joint statement after the meeting? And a lot of people said that this is only a trip of acquaintance. But do they suppose to touch or discuss any substance or any issues related to the bilateral relations, even including Taiwan? Thank you.

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: I know of no current plans for a joint statement coming out of there, out of the meeting between Vice President Hu and Vice President Cheney.

       Secondly -- I'm sorry, your second question was -- ?

       MODERATOR: A meeting of familiarization, acquaintance --

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Oh. I guess I would say two things. It is primarily a meeting to get to know each other. I don't believe Vice President Hu has been to the United States previously, and I'm certain that the two men have never met before. But I suspect that the way two guys like that get to know each other is to discuss the substance of a number of issues that are of interest to our countries. So I would expect the war on terror to be high on that list, but I would expect bilateral relations to be discussed, economic issues to be discussed, China's role in the WTO and performance under WTO requirements could usually come up, a host of issues including human rights issues, and issues involving Taiwan I would expect to come up.

       MODERATOR: Joy?

       Q Wei Jing (sp) from Chinese TV of Hong Kong. In the Washington Post today there is an article saying that administration is in form and tone tilting to Taiwan policy. Do you think it is the trend, and what is the bottom line the president will tell Vice President Hu that -- to what extent he will protect Taiwan?

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Well, I can never tell the president what to say. He will say what he wants to say, but I think he has been clear in the past that we do feel an obligation to help Taiwan protect itself. That's our law.

       In terms of -- with respect to the question of whether there is a fundamental change in U.S. policy towards the cross-strait question, no, here is none.

       I think what people are seeing, however, is a U.S. response to changed conditions. What has happened since 1995 is that the threat against Taiwan has grown. This, in turn, forces us, by means of our law, to address the question of this increased threat. That is forcing -- that is what forces arms sales to Taiwan.

       If there were a reduction of the threat across the strait, I am willing to predict that the people of Taiwan would feel more comfortable, would feel more secure, the threat would be reduced, and therefore, the military relationship could be downplayed between the U.S. and Taiwan.

       MODERATOR: Let's see, let's go to you, sir.

       Q From Kyoto News, Japan. I think the vice president in China is different from the one in the United States. The Chinese vice president is a symbolic position. But it seems that the United States really makes much of his visit. Is it because that he's a coming leader, expected coming leader in China?

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Yes. (Laughter.) I don't want to be flip, but we are aware, as everybody in this room is aware, that there is a very good chance that Hu Jintao will end up being the leader of China in the next year or so. So, yes, that makes it more important for us to get to know him. I mean, that's -- you're right; your question's implication is correct.

       Q Maggie Chen (sp) with Broadcasting Corporation of China. It was reported that White House specifically asked Secretary Rumsfeld to meet with Mr. Hu Jintao. Could you please elaborate on that, because it was reported that White House does not want to give Mr. Hu Jintao an impression that Mr. Rumsfeld is an unfriendly hard-liner. So could you please elaborate on that?

       And then the second question is, will the agenda of Sino-U.S. -- no, will the full resumption of Sino-U.S. mil-to-mil exchange on the agenda tomorrow?

       Thank you.

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Dealing with the first part of the question -- I'll let you take the second part -- I don't speak for Secretary Rumsfeld. I know nothing about any request out of the White House along the lines that you're suggesting. I suspect Secretary Rumsfeld will be eager to meet with Vice President Hu and is looking forward to it. China plays an important part in the strategic equation globally as well as regionally, and I'm sure he's going to look forward to this discussion.

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: And I will actually amplify that. I'm sure that there was no pressure applied from any part of the White House that I'm aware of. To the contrary, I think the secretary made clear fairly early on that he was interested in meeting with Vice President Hu, and it's an important meeting, and we welcome it.

       In terms of the broader military-to-military relationship, we are still in a process of review. I hope that review will be done fairly quickly, but, you know, there -- I don't have definitive answer, because we are still exploring the question. I think the president would like to see a military-to-military relationship that is positive for both countries, that serves to diminish suspicions, is characterized by both reciprocity and transparency. So we're -- you know, we're trying to come up with proposals for the Chinese to implement these guiding principles.

       Q Sonya Rath (ph) of Associated Press. Could you tell us a little bit about whether or not they plan to discuss the plight of a pro-democracy activist who has been detained in China currently, and how much emphasis is going to be placed on human rights, especially since there hasn't -- there doesn't seem to be very much progress since President Bush's visit in February on some of those fronts?

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: I assume I get to answer this one? (Laughs.) I'm not even sure which specific detainee you're talking about inside China, I have to admit.

       Q Yang Chiang Li (ph).

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Yang Chiang Li (ph).

       Q (Inaudible.)

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Yes, actually, and he has a spouse here, right?

       Q Correct.

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Yeah. I don't -- we don't normally comment on whether we're going to raise specific cases, and we don't do that because we don't want to limit the freedom of action on the part of the Chinese. Sometimes it's more embarrassing for them if we make these things public and diminishes the possibility of progress.

       Are we going to raise human rights? Yes, we will. I mean, that's part of what I said about being candid with the Chinese.

       You imply that there is no reason to be hopeful about the progress of human rights in China.

       Well, you know, I'm not sure what our attitude is, but I think we have to keep on plugging away. We have to keep on dealing with the Chinese, working with them on our differences, frankly putting some pressure on them, to try and get individuals released, trying to encourage systemic reform. We will continue to talk to them about those issues, yes.

       MODERATOR: Time for one more question. Suzuki-san?

       Q Thank you. I'm Satoru Suzuki with TV Asahi of Japan. How much discussion with the president and the vice president have with Mr. Hu about the situation in the Korean peninsula, especially in connection with the DPRK's recent proposal for resuming dialogue with the United States? Are they going to tell Mr. Hu that the United States is resuming dialogue with North Korea, when and where, and so on?

       SR. ADMIN. OFFICIAL: Okay. Actually, I think we're telling the world that we're willing to get back in touch with the North Koreans. They have responded to the president's offer to have a dialogue without preconditions, and so we're going to gear up for that.

       We deal a lot with the Chinese on Korea. I think we share common interests on the Korean peninsula. We want a stable Korean peninsula -- both of us. Instability there is dangerous to both of our interests.

       As to whether it will arise in the two meetings, I'm not going to get into that. We -- you know, again, I don't -- I'm not going to pre-script the meeting for you. But rest assured, we will be talking with the Chinese about events on the Korean peninsula in the coming days and weeks and months.

       MODERATOR: Thank you very much.  

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