Bush, Hu agree to disagree as friends

A toast to Hu
In a toast to the Chinese leader, Bush saluted China as an ancient civilization which had moved in a generation from isolationism to “engagement and expansion” with the world.

In his reply, Hu said that China “will keep firmly to the path of peaceful development” and would always “live in peace with other countries.”

As the two men spoke in the East Room of the White House, the sounds of protesters on Pennsylvania Avenue could be faintly heard and the luncheon guests could see the demonstrators through the open curtains.

The half-day summit got under way with pomp and pageantry on the South Lawn as demonstrators massed outside to protest Beijing’s human-rights policies.

The two leaders stood side by side under bright sunshine on the South Lawn of the White House as the national anthems of both countries were played by a military band.

Bush and Hu then engaged in a ceremonial review of U.S. troops, some dressed in Continental Army uniforms.

A woman on the camera stand interrupted the welcoming ceremony, shouting in heavily accented English and Chinese, “President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong!” and “President Bush: Stop him from killing.” She was forcibly removed from the South Lawn by uniformed Secret Service personnel.

Protester's newspaper surprised
Stephen Gregory, a spokesman for the Falun Gong-affiliated newspaper The Epoch Times, later identified the protester as Dr. Wang Wenyi, a pathologist and Falun Gong practitioner based in New York. She had received a press credential through the newspaper, Gregory said.

The South Lawn ceremony to welcome Hu at the White House included a 21-gun salute in deference to one of many very specific requests made by the Chinese leader, say senior U.S. officials, speaking on background.   Aides say the requests from Hu and his team were evidently based on how other international visitors have been received at the White House in the past. The Chinese president attached importance to the grandiosity of the South Lawn welcome, apparently because he wanted to impress television viewers in his own country. The United States also hosted a "social lunch" instead of a state dinner for Hu, which was viewed as more appropriate, given tensions surrounding the large trade imbalance with China. —Norah O'Donnell, NBC correspondent

“We expected her to act as a reporter; we didn’t expect her to protest. None of us had any idea that Dr. Wang was planning this,” he said.

Hu arrived in Washington Wednesday night for the first time as China’s leader, after two days spent wooing American business leaders in Washington state.

In formal remarks on the South Lawn, Bush spoke more forcefully on the currency issue, saying he would continue to press for China to move “toward a flexible market exchange.”

Bush raised other issues with Hu, including complaints about China’s human rights record and questions over China’s growing military strength and whether it poses a threat to Taiwan.

During his address, Hu pledged China’s help in working diplomatically to ease the nuclear tensions with North Korea and Iran. And he vowed in general terms to work to promote human rights. “We should respect each other as equals and promote closer exchanges and cooperation,” he said, speaking through a translator.

Hu said that closer U.S.-Chinese cooperation would “bring more benefits to our two people and to the people of the world.”

Hu denounced as a 'Chinese dictator'
The visit attracted high-profile attention both inside and outside the White House gates. The spiritual movement Falun Gong, condemned by the Chinese government as an evil cult, gathered hundreds of demonstrators on street corners near the White House in the early morning. Marchers banged gongs, chanted and waved American and Chinese flags. Banners denounced Hu as a “Chinese dictator” responsible for genocide and other “crimes in Chinese labor camps and prisons.”

The Chinese government had its say as well. In a median in front of the Chinese embassy, the Falun Gong protesters that are nearly always there had been replaced by Chinese supporters holding huge red-and-yellow banners offering to “warmly welcome” Hu on his American visit.

The two sides disputed what to call the visit, with the Chinese insisting that it is a “state visit,” which was the designation former President Jiang Zemin received in 1997, or an “official visit,” the designation the Bush administration is using for Hu’s trip.

Hu has carried on a tradition started by Deng Xiaoping on his first visit to the United States in 1979 — courting American business executives in recognition of the fact that the United States is China’s biggest overseas market.

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