Given the warm reception Chinese President Hu Jintao has received since entering the United States, it’s easy to forget who the man is and what he represents. Let’s not forget – the man is a Communist, the concept of freedom is foreign to him, and the word itself is not a part of the Chinese government’s vocabulary.
Hu collided with freedom of speech today during remarks made at the White House.
Via Drudge: Chinese heckler disrupts Hu’s speech on south lawn at White House, ‘President Bush, stop him from killing’… one cameraman put a hand on her shoulder as she shouted… seemed to be trying to quiet her down… ‘Stop persecuting the Falun Gong,’ she yelled’… she is taken away by uniformed secret service officers… right after Bush urged Hu to allow Chinese to ‘speak freely’… (Video)
Meanwhile, viewers in China didn’t see or hear any of this.
As Hu was speaking when yells of protesters became audible, the screen went black. When the feed came back the screen once again went black when woman was again heard. During CNN International’s post-speech commentary, at mention of south lawn heckler, the screen also went black again. The CNN feed returned when the incident ended.
What gets me is the mixed message we send. Hu’s first stop in the U.S. was here in Washington State. The guy was treated like a King of Kings. In fact, he was treated better than we treat our own president. Hu was oogled by Governor Christine Gregoire, various state and local government officials, and even Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Although I’ve got to hand it to Bill. In remarks made during a dinner hosted at his house where Hu was the guest of honor, Gates touched upon the importance of user privacy and security online.
“This new era of an Internet-based economy also presents new challenges to us all,” Gates said in a speech that preceded Hu’s to a gathering of about 600 people at a luncheon hosted for the visiting Chinese president.
“It is my belief that industry and government around the world should work even more closely to protect the privacy and security of Internet users, and promote the exchange of ideas, while respecting legitimate government considerations.”
The statement appeared to be urging China to respect the rights of Internet users, but also seemed to suggest Gates thinks “legitimate” government worries need to be taken into consideration, without defining legitimate.
China kills 8,000 political prisoners every year. They provide military technologies to Iran and North Korea. They threaten to attack and destroy Taiwan. That’s the truth.
Yet, we welcome Hu to our country with a 21–gun salute in Washington D.C.