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Bush and Hu build a relationship

Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) first trip abroad after taking control of the party, government and military lasted for two weeks. In addition to laying to rest rumors that he was in bad health, he actively showed off his ability to rule at the APEC summit.

Hu took advantage of the summit to set up at least 13 bilateral meetings with other leaders. He also made state visits to Argentina, Brazil and Cuba, and on Nov. 20, he met with US President George W. Bush, following up on last year's annual APEC meeting in Bangkok. Bush and Hu will probably continue to meet at the APEC summit over the next few years.

At the APEC forum, Hu focused on China's economic development and on proposing multilateralism. In his bilateral meetings, however, he repeatedly brought up the Taiwan issue and instructed other countries to not support Taiwan's independence. He called on APEC member countries to strengthen economic and development cooperation, and announced that China will establish an Asia Pacific finance and development center offering member states a platform for exchange, cooperation and competency-building.

In addition to using the APEC forum to advocate economic liberalization, Bush told Hu that trade relations between their countries must be founded on justice and fairness, and he also pushed for APEC cooperation on security issues. For example, APEC member states agreed to strengthen cooperation to combat terrorism by applying strict controls on portable air defense weapons systems and also implementing International Atomic Energy Agency regulations and international security regarding marine transportation and harbors.

The US is also cooperating with Australia to track lost passports and with Singapore to set up a regional disease control center to contain the threat of bio-terrorism attacks.

In Chile, Bush and Hu extended invitations to each other in the hope that they and their countries will continue to cooperate over the next four years. At a press conference following the meeting, Bush specifically brought up the North Korean issue, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and peace in the Asia Pacific region.

He also mentioned economic relations between China and the US, but did not mention Taiwan. According to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Bush expressed concern over the missiles China has aimed at Taiwan. Although China has not explicitly asked the US to stop selling arms to Taiwan, Beijing requested that the US' Taiwan policy be consistent.

According to information made public by China, Bush said during the meeting between the two leaders that he understands the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue, maintains the US' "one China" policy, respects the three Sino-US communiques, does not support unilateral changes to Taiwan's status quo or a declaration of independence, and that he will not give inconsistent signals to Taiwan.

Hu stressed that Taiwanese independence will mean an end to peace in the Taiwan Strait and destroy stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific. He invoked statements that the US will continue to oppose Taiwanese independence. Although the US currently does not support peaceful unification between Taiwan and China, it should come as no surprise if Bush in future adjusts his position from not supporting Taiwanese independence to unambiguously opposing it.

Hu, obviously well prepared for the meeting with Bush, proposed important points for the future development of relations with the US. His suggestions were to maintain exchanges between senior Chinese and US leaders; strengthen strategic dialogue between the two countries; make full use of the annual meetings of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, the US-China Joint Economic Committee and the Joint Committee on Science and Technology; initiate cooperation over trade, finance, science and technology; and to strengthen cooperation in the areas of countering terrorism, law implementation and health and environmental protection based on mutual benefits.

By comparison, Bush seems to be less concerned with such details, and his greatest concern is Chinese cooperation on the North Korean issue. Both Bush and Hu advocate a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and insist on a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue through peaceful dialogue.

Hu is calling on Bush to be patient, flexible and sincere, while Bush stresses that the US' willingness to continue the six-nation talks has obviously delayed bilateral talks with North Korea.

An exchange of visits by Bush and Hu may become the most important issue in both countries next year. Beijing is hoping to initiate meetings and dialogue between senior leaders in the two countries and to establish a bilateral mechanism for urgent dialogue and negotiation. Bush and Hu talk with each other over the telephone almost on a monthly basis, which shows that they are gradually building a close working relationship, in contrast to the relationship between Bush and former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民).

Taiwan is still having problems achieving better results at APEC or arranging more bilateral meetings with leaders of other nations. Taiwan's senior government officials responsible for working with APEC are alternated too frequently, which makes it impossible to accumulate and pass on the experience of acting as an emissary, thus limiting the results.

Lin Cheng-yi is director of the Institute of European and American Studies at Academia Sinica.

Translated by Perry Svensson
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