Bush in China

Some interesting tidbits from Newsweek on how neutered Bush's influence was during his recent trip to China:

Chinese are used to seeing their top leaders engaged in highly public athletic endeavors--especially when those leaders, beset with challenges at home and abroad, want to prove they’re still dynamic and strong. The late Great Helmsman Mao Zedong was photographed swimming the mighty Yangtze River in 1956, when he faced efforts to reduce his political influence. He jumped into the Yangtze again in 1966, just before he launched the chaotic and destructive Cultural Revolution. To many Chinese, it seemed only natural that Bush, under intense criticism for Washington’s Iraq policy, should come to China and go mountain-biking with athletes training to make the mainland Olympic team.

The real reason the bike ride remains the talk of the town in Beijing is because it was the part of Bush’s visit that mainland authorities wanted Chinese to see. TV news broadcasts lingered on images of Bush on wheels. But the U.S. President’s visit to a Protestant church on Sunday--a scene intended to emphasize the need for greater religious and political freedoms on the mainland--was not widely shown on Chinese TV, despite U.S. hopes that it would be.

Just before Bush touched down in Beijing, moreover, Chinese authorities rounded up Chinese Christians, political activists, and grassroots protestors, apparently to ensure they didn’t do anything to mar the presidential visit. The detentions offended U.S. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice, who said the issue was raised “quite vociferously” with the Beijing government.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, however, has perfected the art of just saying “no”. In September, when Hu met Bush in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting, U.S. officials presented the Chinese side with a list of political cases of concern to Washington, including dissidents, journalists and businessmen who’ve been imprisoned or persecuted. Bush “alluded” to the list again when he met Hu on the weekend, U.S. officials said. But no releases of political prisoners have taken place.
[...]
With China’s economy and international influence growing fast, bilateral mood music is now much different. Just a few years ago Chinese authorities often sounded evasive, defensive or churlish when they rebuffed U.S. pressure for improved human rights.

But in an appearance alongside Bush, Hu was unruffled. He told reporters that the progress of human rights in China would be based on “national conditions” and the mainland’s “historical and cultural heritage.” Translation: we’ll democratize on our own terms and our own timetable (and what’s the deal with Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, anyway?)

Well, at least they were trying to prop him up with focusing on his athletic chops. Too bad that didn't last long.