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.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS