Friday, April 21, 2006

He Hu dares wins


China’s President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US culminated in a visit to the White House and a meeting with George W Bush. Several issues were on the agenda, the value of the Yuan, trade and counterfeit products. But little progress was made with regards trade issues. An undervalued Yuan has brought strong criticism from congress for creating unfair advantages to Chinese manufacturers [CNN]. The days proceedings were also sent off track by a protester who heckled the Chinese President during his speech on the White House lawn. Wang Wenyi, 47, a naturalized U.S. citizen who is working as a journalist for The Epoch Times, was shown on Live television berating Hu Jintao over human rights abuses. She shouted in English, "President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong!" and in Chinese, "President Hu, your days are numbered." After a short while she was led away by Secret Service agents. President Bush later apologized to the Chinese leader over the outburst which failed to make it to TV screens in China. State television did not carry the live ceremony, and CNN's live broadcast of the event was interrupted during the brief protest -- and afterward as reporters discussed it [BBC]. China's state-run flagship channels CCTV-1 and CCTV-4 chose not to carry the events live, preferring correspondents' summaries. At the time of the heckling incident, CCTV-4 was showing a special programme on President Hu's visit entitled "Voice of Peace From China". And Shanghai's Oriental Satellite TV quickly interrupted coverage when the protester began to shout. The channel switched back to the studio anchorwoman, who summed up the leaders' speeches in an apparent effort to prevent the noise from being heard. Few Chinese viewers saw a slip of protocol as President Bush grabbed President Hu’s sleeve as he passed his required position for a photograph. The Chinese President looked surprised and shocked before breaking into a smile. Posted by Picasa

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