Author: Henry Chu
Publication: The Los Angeles Times
Date: February 25, 2002
The Chinese government responded
to President Bush's call for religious tolerance Friday by promptly editing
out his remarks on freedom and faith in its transcript of a speech that
Bush delivered on live national television.
Before the U.S. leader had even
boarded Air Force One to return to Washington on Friday afternoon, China's
state-controlled media put out their version of the morning address, in
which Bush spoke to an audience of university students.
Almost half the speech--large chunks
extolling American liberty and urging China to relax its political and
religious restrictions--was simply hacked out in the transcript released
by the official New China News Agency. The heavy censorship prompted indignant
complaints on the Internet from people who demanded that the full text
be restored. "Why must the New China News Agency kid itself?" someone using
the name Crawler asked in one chat room. "Does striking out someone's words
mean the person never said them?"
Others took to posting the censored
portions for others to read. "The Chinese media always distort the facts,"
another cyber-citizen wrote. "Everyone ought to compare the live remarks
with the subsequent transcript."
Bush's speech at Qinghua University
in Beijing, along with a half-hour question-and-answer session afterward,
was broadcast Friday morning on China's premier television channel, which
reaches hundreds of millions of households.
It was only the second time an American
president has had the opportunity of addressing the Chinese people directly,
and one of Beijing's most widely read newspapers publicized the event beforehand.
But the censored transcript demonstrated
the ambivalence of the Communist regime toward the United States. Although
top leaders publicly advocate stronger ties with Washington and agreed
to the White House's request for live air time, they remain sensitive to
any criticism of their rule.
The excised portions of Bush's speech
contained praise for America's civic spirit and its status as "a beacon
of hope" for people around the world. Bush's criticism of some Chinese
textbooks' portrayal of U.S. society also was dropped. So were his comments
on his personal faith, his call for an end to religious persecution here,
his description of the Statue of Liberty and his declaration that freedom
need not mean chaos.
Even his praise for the courage
of the firefighters and police officers who died trying to save victims
of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. got the ax.
One thing that remained was a brief
civics lesson on the separation of powers in U.S. government and the fact
that political authority derives from a "free vote of the people." But
Bush's wish that the Chinese might one day choose their own national leaders
was expunged.
Still, the speech did get beamed
live and uncensored over the airwaves Friday morning, potentially seen
by hundreds of millions of viewers.
And state-run media have spoken
warmly of Bush's visit as an important event in Sino-U.S. relations, even
though the Chinese generally have been skeptical of Bush, whom they regard
as less friendly toward their country than was President Clinton.
Talks between Bush and President
Jiang Zemin were described as "positive, constructive and fruitful" by
the Foreign Ministry, although no major agreements were reached. In addition,
Bush had a chance Friday to meet Vice President Hu Jintao, who is expected
to become president next year.
The two men spoke briefly before
Hu introduced Bush to the audience at Qinghua. Foreign Ministry spokesman
Kong Quan said Hu thanked Bush for an invitation to visit the U.S., which
he has accepted.
After the speech at Qinghua, a school
often billed as China's MIT, some of those who attended gave Bush fairly
high marks.
"I think Bush spoke well. Not that
I agreed with everything he said," said Zhang Kaicun, 49, a worker at Qinghua
who was allowed to attend.
Bush's comments about religious
persecution in China didn't ring true to Zhang. "More and more people are
turning to religion in China. I know a lot of religious people," he said.
"They're Buddhists, and they're under no pressure whatsoever."
During the question-and-answer period,
the first two of six questions by students grilled Bush on his policy toward
Taiwan, the biggest sticking point in U.S.-China relations. Beijing regards
the island as its rightful territory.
The questions, both of them applauded
by the audience, reflected the growing nationalism among Chinese youth,
a sentiment actively fostered by the government. Four years ago, at a similar
event, students at Qinghua's rival institution, Beijing University, asked
Clinton whether, beneath his smiles, the U.S. was intent on containing
China.
On Friday, Bush said he is committed
to helping Taiwan defend itself if attacked but stressed that he wants
to see a "peaceful settlement" of the stalemate.
Student Zhang Jing said she found
the response rather tepid. "It's a diplomatic answer," she said.
