Observations on the White House Visit
of China's President Hu Jintao
April 20, 2006
Dr. Chuck Hermann
Director of
International Programs
George
Bush School
of Government & Public Service
Texas
A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4220
(979) 458-2276 hermann@tamu.edu
Almost everyone stood in their designated places awaiting
the arrival of President George W. Bush and his guest, President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China.
Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Rice, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld
and JCS Chief General Pace seemed to have drawn the “short straws” relative to
some of the rest of us lucky enough to be special invited guests. They stood on the west side of the
presidential podium facing a brilliant morning sun, while we enjoyed the warmth
of a cloudless spring day with the sun to our backs. Nature and the White House gardeners had
worked together with spectacular results, best dramatized by the magnificent wisteria
in full bloom producing a lavender cascade around the circular stairs leading
to the main entrance of the mansion.
The honor guard, the bleachers of media, the military band, the color guard, and the expanse of folks holding small American and Chinese flags
all waited. There was a glitch. It seems
that President Hu is somewhat shorter than his American host and would need the
step that slides from the back of the podium to provide a discrete boast as he
faced the television cameras to deliver his remarks. Worried aides discovered that the step didn’t
slide in and out easily. American and
Chinese staffers repeatedly mounted the platform to inspect the pesky
step. We waited. At last a solution was found and the repair
made…with duct tape! It appears to be an
indispensable resource at the White House just as in our own home.
Then the trumpets sounded “Hail to the Chief” and the
President and Laura Bush stepped out to greet their guests arriving on cue up
the circular drive stopping just below the Truman balcony. As they stepped from the limousine, President
Hu Jintao and Madam Liu Yongqing, his wife, could see beyond the south lawn, the
ellipse dominated by the Washington Monument
and in the far distance the Jefferson Memorial.
After greeting some of the guests and viewing the troups, the two presidents mounted the stage and watched the Fife and Drum perform. President Bush delivered a welcoming address that touched
all the major issues that we must work to resolve—the trade imbalance, energy
demands, intellectual property rights, the challenges of North
Korea, Iran, Taiwan and
human rights in China
itself. In response, President Hu
similarly acknowledged these issues, emphasizing repeatedly the importance of
“win-win” solutions. He seemed only momentarily
startled when a woman, apparently under or behind the press bleachers starting
shouting in Chinese—most likely about human rights violations in China. (For the previous 24 hours all the street
corners near the White House had large clusters of Chinese protesters with
banners 30 feet long and endless supplies of leaflets protesting the treatment
in China of the
Falun Gong and political prisoners.)
With the exception of the lone infiltrator, however, the demonstrators
had been kept out of the large crowd of Americans and Chinese at the welcoming
ceremony. After the ceremony was over, President and Mrs. Bush and President Hu and Madame Liu appeared on the Truman balcony for a last wave.
Luncheon in the East Room was scheduled to follow talks
between the two heads of state. Though
announced to start at noon, the
elegant meal began late because the talks ran long. I took that as a good sign. The two presidents offered toasts when lunch
began. In his toast, President Hu said they had made some progress on the
issues under discussion and one of the specifics he mentioned was an agreement
for more people to people exchanges and collaborative research. That is exactly what the Bush
School and Texas A&M generally
have been working to promote with their Chinese counterparts in the series of
conferences fostered by the first President Bush and his Presidential Library
Foundation in College Station.
What more can you say about a luncheon for 170 distinguished guests in the East Room at the White House with a menu of
butter heirloom corn broth, Alaskan halibut, freckles Bibb lettuce with grilled
eggplant, "Good Fortune" dessert, and Newton
chardonnay? The descriptive challenge is
even greater when you are seated at a table hosted by Lynne Cheney, the
engaging wife of the Vice President. Of course I don’t know what our Chinese
guests made of the music of the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Despite being in suits and ties rather than
jeans, Lorraine and I thought them great. In short, it
was a day not to be forgotten.
April 28, 2006
* For more photos see: http://www.voxprof.com/photos/HuJintao/index.html.
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