Bush Comes To Defense Of China

Former President George Bush called Thursday for a greater recognition of China’s progress in improving human rights.

“It would be a tragic mistake for Americans or anyone to fail to perceive the genuine depth of the change,” said Bush, who was U.S. ambassador to China from October 1974 to December 1975.

“Today there’s an openness in China that Barbara and I could never have predicted when we lived in Beijing,” he said in a speech in Hong Kong.

Bush said the United States must understand that China is still a country in transition. And both countries “need to recognize that this transition will be accompanied by irritants and genuine differences that would need to be seriously addressed and resolved.”

Washington has frequently put pressure on China to improve its human-rights record. China last week warned the United States not to continue its practice of introducing U.N. resolutions condemning China on human rights.

Bush was in Hong Kong after a visit to China.