For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 22, 2001
Remarks by the President and Vice Premier of China Qian Qichen in Photo Opportunity
The Oval Office
4:03 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: It's my honor to
welcome our distinguished guest from China. China is a great
country. China has got vast potential. And we've
got common interests in China, and I look forward to discussing our
interests. Our relationship, of course, will be a complex
relationship; there will be areas where we can find agreement, such as
trade; there will be some areas where we have some disagreements.
I look forward to committing to this
distinguished leader that any disagreements we will have, we will
conduct ourselves with mutual respect. I will be firm, and I suspect
he will be firm, in our opinions, but we will do so in a respectful
way. It is in our nation's best interests that we have good
relations with China.
And before I introduce our distinguished
guest, I do want to say how much I'm looking forward to going to
China. I'll be going next fall, the government has invited
me to go to Beijing. I accept the invitation, we'll work out
the arrangements. But I'm really looking forward to it.
As a young man, I visited my mother and dad in
China in 1975, and I look forward to my return. I can't wait
to see the change, the contrast between when I was a younger fellow and
now, kind of an older guy. (Laughter.) But I'm looking
forward to coming to your country, sir.
Welcome.
THE VICE PREMIER: I fully agree to
what President Bush just said. Indeed, China and the United States are
major countries. To maintain friendly relations and
cooperation between China and the United States is in the interest of
Asia, the Pacific Region and the world at large.
Where we have shared interests, we can advance
our relationship forward. Where we disagree, we can have
very good exchange of views. Some issues can be approached
in the spirit of seeking common ground, while shelving the
differences.
I'm sure ways can be found to solve all the
problems. I view my visit as a very successful
one. Because in the exchange of letters, President Jiang and
President Bush already reached common consensus, which has laid a solid
foundation for the growth of our relationship in the new century.
We are looking forward to welcoming President
Bush in China in the coming fall.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.
Q What do you have to
say, sir, to your visitor about the detention of an American University
professor and, until recently, her husband and son, who is an American
citizen? And, secondly, are you inclined to allow the sale
of destroyers to Taiwan?
THE PRESIDENT: I will echo the
sentiments that the Secretary of State said today about the fact that a
U.S. citizen was detained without any notification. I look
forward to discussing this with our honorable guest, and will do so.
We have obligations under the Taiwan Relations
Act and we'll honor those obligations. No decision has been
made yet as to the sale of weapons to Taiwan.
One of our guests from the Chinese press.
Q Mr. President, what
are your expectations for your forthcoming trip, October, to Shanghai
and Beijing?
THE PRESIDENT: I look forward to
seeing the modernization that has taken place. I look
forward to seeing the beautiful countryside that I remember so well.
But most of all, I look forward to getting to
know the leaders of China. I think the best thing I can do
is to -- the best thing our delegation will do is to be able to sit
down, face to face, and have an honest dialogue.
People will find that I'm a straightforward
person, that I represent my country's interests in a very
straightforward way. But I will do so with respect.
Q Mr. President, is
there anything that China can say or do that would influence your
decision about which weapons to sell Taiwan?
THE PRESIDENT: This meeting will
give me a chance to confirm the fact that I will honor our obligations
under the Taiwan Relations law. I look forward to explaining
that as clearly as I can to our distinguished guest. If he cares to
bring up the subject and wishes to make a case, I will be glad to
listen. But no decision has been made yet. And
I'll do what I think is in the best interests of our relationships and
in the best interests of conforming to obligations we have.
Q Mr. President, may I
speak in Chinese?
THE PRESIDENT: Are you with the
Chinese press, because your English is perfect.
Q Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: You speak better
English than I do. (Laughter.)
Q (Speaking Chinese) --
about the gathering outside of the Falun Gong. The State
Department has decided to sponsor a resolution to condemn the human
rights. And for the past few years it has been
failed. And I just wonder, Mr. President, what are you going
to try to tell the Chinese side how to improve their human rights?
And my second question is regarding -- the
Chinese seem very warm to your father, they come, delegation after
delegation visiting your father. Are you going to be teached by your
father regarding your China policy?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the Chinese,
I'm convinced, like my father because he married
well. (Laughter.) My mother is very well
respected in China, as is my dad, because they spent time there and
they befriended a lot of folks who are now leaders.
It will come as no surprise to our Chinese
guest that I'm a believer in religious freedom and I will make a --
state it politely and as clearly as I can that ours is a nation that
respects religious freedom, ours is a nation that honors religious
freedom; and that our relationship will move forward, but it will
certainly be a lot easier to move forward in a constructive way when
our people with whom we conduct our affairs honor religious freedom
within their borders.
Q Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: I'd like to thank
the press for not violating the beeper policy. (Laughter.)
Q We didn't want to get
Gordon in trouble again. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Gordon became an
international figure. (Laughter.)
END
4:15 P.M. EST
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