WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to uphold human rights in his country, saying it could prove key to China’s future success.
“The US welcomes China’s rise as a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations,” Obama said as he welcomed Hu to the White House.
But straying into the contentious issue of human rights, Obama added, “History shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful and the world is more just when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all people are upheld, including the universal rights of every human being.” At a later joint press conference, Obama acknowleged Beijing and Washington had different opinions on human rights and freedoms.
“China has a different political system than we do. China is at a different stage of development than we are,” Obama said. “We come from very different cultures and with very different histories.”
He said he had been “very candid” with Hu during their talks about issues such as freedom of speech, religion and assembly, admitting “occasionally they are a source of tension between our two governments”.
But Obama added he believed, “we can engage and discuss these issues in a frank and candid way, focus on the areas where we agree, while acknowledging there are going to be areas where we disagree”.
“I want to suggest that there has been an evolution in China over the last 30 years since the first normalisation of relations between the US and China. And my expectation is that 30 years from now we will have seen further evolution and further change,” Obama added.
Hu, who was speaking through a translator, was also asked to defend his country’s human rights record at the press conference but appeared to ignore the question
Obama also called on Beijing to engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader. Also Obama said Washington and Beijing wanted North Korea to halt “further provocations”.
Meanwhile, a US official said the US and China have agreed export deals worth $45 billion dollars on the margins of President Hu Jintao’s US state visit. “We will be announcing that $45 billion of US export deals have been concluded, supporting 235,000 US jobs,” the official said. The total includes deals worth $25 billion spread over 70 contracts and 12 US states and a massive contract for Boeing.
“The Chinese government will announce that it will approve the purchase of 200 Boeing aircraft, with an estimated value of $19 billion dollars,” the official said.
