China dominates president’s Asian tour

WASHINGTON – President Bush heads to Asia today to reassert American leadership in a region increasingly dominated by China.

China’s growing economic clout and global influence hang over every stop on the president’s weeklong trip to Japan, South Korea, China and Mongolia. With 1.3 billion people and the world’s fastest-growing economy, China has become a source of admiration and tension as well as a vital trading partner for its neighbors.

China also plays a big role in the U.S. economy. Bush said he’ll press Chinese leaders to buy more U.S. goods, lift currency controls that discourage imports to China and crack down on counterfeit movies and other violations of intellectual property rights.

Bush will have plenty of other issues to talk about during his travels. Although the president will visit some of the enduring symbols of Asia’s ancient past, he’ll be dealing with a host of current and future problems – the nuclear threat from North Korea, the possibility of an avian flu pandemic and tensions between China and its neighbors.

In Pusan, South Korea, Bush will join leaders from 20 other nations on both sides of the Pacific Ocean for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

He’ll use a stop in Kyoto, Japan’s temple-filled ancient capital, to promote his goal of spreading democracy around the world.

His four-hour stop in Mongolia, between Russia and China in Central Asia, will be the first visit there by a sitting U.S. president.

In contrast to the usual happy talk that precedes presidential visits, Bush has made little effort to downplay differences with China.

“It’s a mixed relationship,” he told a reporter for Phoenix Television, a Hong Kong-based network, last week. “There is a lot of good that we’re doing together. And there’s a lot of areas where we might not have full agreement.”

Speaking directly to Chinese viewers, Bush added, “We want to have good relations with you.”

But tensions flared even before Bush’s departure from the White House.

Last Tuesday, the State Department issued a report documenting China’s violations of religious freedom. On Wednesday, Bush drew objections from Chinese officials by hosting the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, at the White House.

In another development that could add to the strain, Chinese authorities took three Catholic clerics into custody last week, according to a Roman Catholic group that monitors events in China. The detainees include 70-year-old Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo.

The Chinese government has established government-controlled religious organizations. However, it prohibits the official Chinese Catholic Church from having affiliation with the Vatican.

Also last week, a Chinese court sentenced Cai Zhuohua, a pastor in China’s nongovernment-sanctioned Protestant church, to three years in prison for illegally printing and distributing Bibles and other religious books.

Bush said he intends to discuss his own faith with Chinese President Hu Jintao while pressing for more religious freedom in China. Next Sunday, Bush will join worshippers at a government-sanctioned Protestant church in Beijing.

The president also pledged to deliver a blunt message on economic issues. Just days before Bush’s trip, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit with China soared to a record $20.1 billion in September, accounting for nearly a third of the total U.S. trade imbalance.

Some members of Congress are threatening to seek a 27.5 percent tax on all Chinese imports if China doesn’t allow its currency, the yuan, to trade more freely against the dollar. A market-based exchange rate would boost the yuan’s value and make U.S. imports cheaper in China.

“We’ve got a big trade imbalance with China. But we’re making progress,” Bush said. “I believe they ought to do more.”

Despite their differences, Bush and Hu have a mutual interest in maintaining good relations. The United States still is the world’s leading military and economic power. Bush can use Hu’s help in trying to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and in dealing with a potentially deadly outbreak of avian flu.

Chinese officials hope Bush’s third visit will be another chance to make a good impression on the rest of the world in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

“From the Chinese side, there are only modest expectations,” said Jin Canrong, associate dean of international studies at People’s University of China. “The government will try its best to make the trip look successful.”