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Taiwan on agenda as Bush, Cheney meet China's Hu
2002-05-01
WASHINGTON - U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday will take the measure of the man expected to be China's next leader, Vice President Hu Jintao, in get-acquainted meetings expected to delve into issues including Taiwan and human rights. Hu, after a dinner on Tuesday night with Secretary of State Colin Powell, is to meet Cheney on Wednesday morning, have lunch with him at Cheney's home, then meet Bush at the White House. It is the central day of Hu's first visit to the United States. No joint statement is expected, in keeping with the low-key nature of the visit. Hu, expected to succeed Jiang Zemin as head of the Communist Party this fall and as China's president in 2003, wants to avoid saying or doing anything that could jeopardize his heir-apparent status, China-watchers in the United States said. Hu arrived from New York on Tuesday after visits to Honolulu and San Francisco. His U.S. visit is seen as an important step toward building an international profile for Hu, who is largely unknown on the world stage. Senior U.S. officials said Bush and Cheney wanted to get to know Hu since he is heir-apparent to Jiang and would raise substantive issues such as Taiwan and human rights practices in China. On the eve of the meetings, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official traveling with Hu called the question of Taiwan the most important issue in Sino-U.S. relations. Despite cooperation in the war on terrorism, U.S.-Chinese relations remain clouded by Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province but which has been receiving overt signals of stronger support from the Bush administration. NEED TO HELP TAIWAN One senior official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said "we do feel a need to help Taiwan protect itself" and said China was to blame for an increase in tensions that has forced the United States to sell arms to Taiwan as authorized under the Taiwan Relations Act. "The president has consistently said that what we seek is a peaceful resolution of the differences between the people on the two sides of the Strait," the official said. "We don't want to see any 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 toward the eventual resolution of the problems," the official said. Cheney and Bush, who did a similar tag-team act last week when Cheney met Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in advance of a session with the president, will raise human rights concerns as well. "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 get some individuals released, trying to encourage systemic reform," said one official. There has been progress reported on another major irritant, U.S. concerns that China is exporting ballistic missile technology. Last month U.S. officials said China had told the United States it was cracking down on nuclear, chemical, biological and missile exports, stoking optimism that a festering non-proliferation dispute can be resolved soon. The Bush administration has demanded adherence to a November 2000 agreement that aimed to halt China's export of missile technology to Pakistan and other states. While his meetings are called get-acquainted sessions, one U.S. official said of Cheney and Hu in particular that "I suspect the way that 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."... ... | Note: this page has been archived under Muzi Premium Version and is only available to premium members. Please use the Premium Personal Password (PPP) to log in.
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