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Thursday, April 20, 2006
Chinese President Hu Jintao Visits White House
It was pomp and protest at the White House today as Chinese President Hu Jintao visited for a day of activities that the Bush administration refused to call a state visit. There was full military welcome on the South Lawn as well as a 21-gun salute for Hu, who reviewed the troops prior to heading into the Oval Office for a meeting with Bush. After the session, both talked about their frank exchange and acknowledged ongoing differences on some issues, including Bush’s call on Hu to revalue Chinese currency as a way to reduce the massive trade imbalance between the nations.
In comments to reporters, Bush managed to bring up Houston Rockets basketball player Yao Ming in response to a question about cultural exchange programs. “I mean, he’s a perpetual exchange. He’s a great player and he’s here all the time,” said Bush.
The South Lawn welcome ceremony was marked by a shrieking protester who stood amid reporters on a riser. The woman screamed at Hu, criticizing his record on human rights. The woman was associated with Falun Gong, a banned spiritiual movement that has been subjected to harassment in China. Many more Falun Gong supporters marched outside the White House to protest Hu’s visit.
The last event on Hu’s White House schedule was a “social lunch” in the East Room.
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White House Morning Update
Ever trying to control the spin of the news, the White House communications operation, in its “Morning Update,” today made sparing mention of yesterday’s major staff changes in which Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced his resignation and Karl Rove’s job description was changed.
The “Morning Update,” e-mailed to White House reporters and others, was topped by highlights of a Los Angeles Times article on Bush’s Wednesday speech in Tuskegee, Alabama, an event that was greatly overshadowed by Wednesday’s staff changes.
The second item on the “Morning Update” included the only mention of the changes, quoting Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, from a radio interview in which he said “this president wants to accomplish a lot in the last 1,000 days of his presidency” and wants to make sure “he has the staff and the team and the lines of responsibility in a way that he feels that can be most successful for this president.”
Next up on the update were highlights from: - A Washington Post interview in which Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen talked about how valuable the Coast Guard is. - A CBS story about of life expectancy for Americans is increasing. - An AP story about Bush and four governors talking about how well the war is going. - A Kansas City Star story about the enthusiastic response Vice President Cheney got from troops at Fort Riley. - An AP story quoting Secretary of State Rice saying peace will come to Iraq. - A Washington Post column calling for congressional approval of the Bush-backed U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement.
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