Bush Urges Freedom of Worship in China
" On Thursday night, Mr. Bush was the guest of honor at a banquet given
by Mr. Jiang at the Great Hall of the People, where after dinner Mr. Jiang
serenaded the president and Laura Bush, with "O Sole Mio" in Italian, to the
accompaniment of an accordion player.
When Mr. Jiang was done, he asked Mr. Bush if he would like to sing.
"Secretary Powell would like to sing a song," Mr. Bush replied, indicating
his secretary of state, Colin L. Powell. Mr. Powell demurred"
The New York Times
February 22, 2002
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
BEIJING, Friday, Feb. 22 -
Religious freedom should be
welcomed rather than feared,
President Bush said in a speech
broadcast across China today, and he
held up the United States as an
example of "a nation guided by faith."
Mr. Bush repeatedly pressed his
theme that religious and political
freedom would not lead to chaos,
using words that were both a forceful projection of his own religious faith and a
subtle criticism of what he sees as the oppressiveness of President Jiang Zemin's government.
"Life in America shows that liberty, paired with law, is not to be feared," Mr. Bush
said. "In a free society, diversity is not disorder. Debate is not strife. And dissent is
not revolution. A free society trusts its citizens to seek greatness in themselves and
their country."
Mr. Bush's remarks, given to students at Tsinghua University in Beijing, came at
the end of a six-day, three-nation trip to Asia, and closed a one-day visit to Beijing.
He and Mr. Jiang have for the most part presented a united front in the campaign
against terrorism and their desire to open up American talks with North Korea.
Mr. Bush was introduced to the audience by Hu Jintao, an alumnus of Tsinghua
University who is almost certain to be Mr. Jiang's successor.
The president's speech, followed by a question-and-answer
session with students, contrasted with the almost
off-handed reference he made to religious freedom in a
joint news conference with Mr. Jiang on Thursday. Mr.
Bush made it clear today that the United States expects
China, with its booming capitalist economy and
Communist government, to move beyond its material
success toward the political liberties of the United States.
"We're a nation of laws," Mr. Bush said. "Our courts are
honest and they are independent. The president, me, I
can't tell the courts how to rule, and neither can any other
member of the executive or legislative branch of
government. Under our law, everyone stands equal. No
one is above the law, and no one is beneath it."
Mr. Bush added that "all political power in America is
limited, and it is temporary, and only given by the free
vote of the people."
In the remarks, he called the United States a "nation with
the soul of a church."
Mr. Bush recalled how he spoke to Mr. Jiang in Shanghai
last October about his own religious beliefs. "I had the
honor of sharing with him how faith changed my own life,
and how faith contributes to the life of my country," said
Mr. Bush, who was raised an Episcopalian, became a
Methodist after his marriage and then in 1986 said he was
recommitting his heart to Jesus Christ - a "born-again"
experience in the words of evangelicals, although the
president has not used that term to describe himself.
"Faith points to a moral law beyond man's law and calls us
to duties higher than material gain," Mr. Bush said.
"Freedom of religion is not something to be feared, but it's
to be welcomed, because faith gives us a moral core and
teaches us to hold ourselves to high standards, to love and
to serve others and to live responsible lives."
Mr. Bush said that he was hopeful about China's next generation and encouraged
by the change he already sees. "Tens of millions of Chinese today are relearning
Buddhist, Taoist and local religious traditions, or practicing Christianity, Islam and
other faiths," he said. "Regardless of where or how these believers worship, they
are no threat to public order."
The president added that "my prayer is that all persecution will end, so that all in
China are free to gather and worship as they wish."
Mr. Bush praised some reforms in China's political system, such as secret ballots
and competitive local elections, and said he looked forward to an expansion of
democratic elections to the national level.
Mr. Bush's address acknowledged that the United States "has its share of
problems, no question about that, and we have our faults," and "like most nations,
we're on a long journey toward achieving our own ideals of equality and justice."
Nonetheless, he said, "there is a reason our nation shines as a beacon of hope and
opportunity, a reason many throughout the world dream of coming to America."
The president took pains to describe the America that he said he knows and not
the one his audience sees in movies and on television.
Chinese textbooks, Mr. Bush said, "talk of Americans' bullying the weak and
repressing the poor." He said that another Chinese textbook published last year
teaches that F.B.I. agents are used "to repress the working people." Neither claim is
true, Mr. Bush said.
Mr. Bush then told the students that the future of a new nation was in their
hands, and that religious and political freedom would lead to a stronger, more
vibrant China.
But Mr. Bush's tone was respectful throughout, with words unlikely to be
threatening to Mr. Jiang, as he praised the nation's village elections and broadcast
grand hopes for a great China. Mr. Bush also painted an image of American
freedom intended to appeal to many Chinese.
Religious freedom did not come up in a question and answer session after the
president's speech, when Mr. Bush was confronted with two tough questions by
students asking him to clarify the United States position on Taiwan. The students
asked, first in Chinese and then in their own translated English, why Mr. Bush did
not say he was seeking "reunification" of China and Taiwan.
The second student recalled that Mr. Bush had said in Tokyo three days ago that
the United States would remember its "commitment" to Taiwan. "But does the
United States still remember its commitment to 1.3 billion Chinese people?" she
asked. The questions, as is Chinese custom, were almost certainly vetted
beforehand by university officials.
Mr. Bush, taken aback, said first that "this seems to be a topic on people's minds,"
then answered by repeating longstanding policy that he supported one China,
would honor American commitment to Taiwan, and believed in a peaceful
resolution of the issue - an answer that appeared unlikely to satisfy the students
and was a step back from former President Clinton's strong support of a one-China
policy during a visit here in 1998.
Mr. Bush was also asked about his planned missile defense system, which many
Chinese see as a threat aimed at neutralizing their own nuclear forces. Mr. Bush
replied that he had yet to develop such a system, and said, "I think it will bring
more stability to the world than less."
There were frequent moments of humor in the session at Tsinghua University, one
of China's premier educational institutions. At one point, Mr. Bush's Chinese
interpreter began to translate his answer into her own excellent English.
"She's correcting my English," Mr. Bush said, to laughter.
At another point, Mr. Bush was asked by a student if he would encourage his twin
daughters to study in China. "I'm afraid they don't listen to me anymore, if you
know what I mean," Mr. Bush said, again to laughter.
Mr. Bush also spoke during the question and answer section of his astonishment
at Beijing, where grand neon swaths of new building and hotels have risen like a
mix of Hong Kong and Las Vegas. Mr. Bush was last here in 1975, when he
described himself as depressed by the drab sameness of the clothes and the
bicycles.
"It is hard for me to describe the difference," Mr. Bush told the students. "It is an
amazing transformation."
A Beijing University graduate student in international relations who identified
himself by his surname, Wang, watched the question and answer session on
television in a campus canteen. "I thought the speech was quite brilliant," he said.
"He described how America is not just about wealth but also about values.
"He explained American religion in a way that Chinese can understand," he said.
"But the questions were too soft."
Yao Nan, a Beijing University graduate student in economics, said of President
Bush, "He answered the questions much better than I expected. I'd heard he was
something of a bumbler when he speaks, but he did pretty well."
Before the speech, Mr. Bush left the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the quiet,
elaborately landscaped compound where he is staying on the western outskirts of
the Forbidden City, to have breakfast with Prime Minister Zhu Rongji.
On Thursday night, Mr. Bush was the guest of honor at a banquet given by Mr.
Jiang at the Great Hall of the People, where after dinner Mr. Jiang serenaded the
president and Laura Bush, with "O Sole Mio" in Italian, to the accompaniment of
an accordion player.
When Mr. Jiang was done, he asked Mr. Bush if he would like to sing. "Secretary
Powell would like to sing a song," Mr. Bush replied, indicating his secretary of
state, Colin L. Powell. Mr. Powell demurred.
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