As China roars toward becoming an economic superpower, it is mindful of the political paths taken by Western countries but has no plans to simply copy them wholesale, President Hu Jintao (
Hu sought to quell fears about the effects of China's rapid development on the environment and the world's energy supply. But when asked whether his country's restrictions on political expression would hinder its economic growth, he said China would make those decisions for itself.
"On one hand, we are ready and willing to draw on the useful experience of foreign countries in political involvement," he said on Friday. "On the other hand, we will not simply copy the political models of other countries."
Hu pledged Chinese cooperation with the US and said differences between the two countries, which include disagreements over monetary policy and human rights, can be overcome by their shared desire for peace.
Several blocks away, hundreds of protesters, including members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned in China, waved signs and shouted anti-communist and anti-government slogans in Chinese.
"Hu Jintao is not telling the truthful story of China," said Sarah Liang, a US citizen living in Hong Kong who said her mother and brother are imprisoned in China for their Falun Gong membership. "He speaks of very positive things, but the real story of China is not being told."
Pro-government demonstrators also waved signs, some reading: "Warmly Welcome Chairman Hu Jintao to the United States" and "Bring China-US relations closer."
Yale President Richard Levin, who has helped establish dozens of collaborative programs with China, welcomed Hu and said the future of the 21st century relied on a good relationship between the US and China. Hu credited Yale, which in 1854 became the first US university to graduate a Chinese student, with being a steward of that relationship.
Like the Chinese leader's earlier welcome in Washington, not everything went as planned.
A CNN reporter was thrown out of the welcoming ceremony after shouting a question about whether Hu had seen the protesters nearby. A Yale spokeswoman said the reporter was thrown out because he was invited "to cover an event, not to hold a press conference."
Hu appeared unusually relaxed before the crowd of academics, joking that he would like to have been a student at Yale and suggesting he might stay on as a professor.
Hu met with US President George W. Bush on Thursday, and the two leaders said it was a productive summit meeting. The two leaders pledged cooperation but did not break new ground on resolving the economic issues, including the big US trade deficit with China.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS