US President George W. Bush has said his upcoming trip to China would give him a chance to get to know the leadership better.
"President Hu (Jintao) is a person who I enjoy visiting with. He's smart And the more you get to know a person, the better, the easier it is to make good policy," said Bush.
US President George W. Bush has said his upcoming trip to China would give him a chance to get to know the leadership better.
And his message to China and the Chinese people was: "We want to have good relations with you."
In an exclusive interview with Hong Kong's Phoenix Television in Washington, which was telecast yesterday, Bush stressed that the Sino-US relationship is "important" and "good," and described China as a "big, powerful nation."
The US president reiterated that "it's in our interest that we share ideas and work together."
He was speaking on the eve of his third official visit to China on November 19. Bush first came to the country on a personal visit in 1975; and to Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2002 after he was elected president.
"The people of China must understand that when the United States and China work together, we can accomplish a lot," he said, adding that "there is a lot of good that we're doing together."
Bush touched on a wide range of bilateral and global issues he is likely to discuss with President Hu.
Working together
"There's a lot of areas where we may not have full agreement, but, nevertheless, are able to discuss our disagreements in a very cordial way," he said.
Besides issues such as free trade, the value of the Chinese currency, intellectual property rights and the war on terror, the Chinese and US leaders have "a fantastic opportunity" to work together for a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula, he said.
This "will lay a foundation for peace in the region and the hemisphere."
Economic issues
The US leader said he will want to continue discussions on the economic front, because "we've got a big trade imbalance with China."
"I'll talk about the need for trade that is free and fair.
"But we're making progress," he said, praising China's move in July to delink the renminbi from the greenback and peg it against a basket of currencies as "a good first step."
Bush also praised Hu's recent "very strong statement in New York about intellectual property rights" and this week's resolution of the textile dispute between the two countries.
On energy, "we need to share information and share technologies so both of us can diversify away from hydrocarbons," he said.
Taiwan question
Touching on the question of Taiwan, Bush said he believes "it is possible, through discussion and goodwill, to end up solving this issue in a peaceful way."
He reaffirmed that the US will adhere to its one-China policy and the three joint communiques, adding that he does not support "Taiwan independence," and was "optimistic" over the development of cross-Straits discussions.
"I am optimistic there will be a peaceful resolution," the US leader said.
"I am optimistic because I have seen cross-Straits discussions starting to take place. And I urge the parties to continue those discussions. "
Impressions of China
Recalling his first trip in 1975 to Beijing where he spent his 29th birthday, the US president said his deepest impression is "how different China is today than it was in 1975."
Back then, he said, he had a fantastic experience in the Chinese capital, where he saw "everybody was on bicycles; there weren't many automobiles."
"I happened to be one of the people on bicycles. I rode all over the place in Beijing, which was fascinating," he said.
"There wasn't much exposure to the West, and all of a sudden, an American starts riding a bike amongst them and it, frankly, surprised some people," he said, adding "it was great. It was really interesting."
He also "noticed there was uniformity in dress. People wore the same style clothes."
That has changed, he pointed out. Now "there's a market; people are beginning to express their own individual desires and somebody is meeting those desires with a product "
Describing his trip to Shanghai in 2001, he said: "It was mind-boggling to look at the fantastic buildings that had been built between the airport and the old town.
"So this is a country that has progressed a lot since 1975, which shows the vast potential of China," the US president noted, adding that "it should explain to people in America why it's important for our government to have a good working relationship (with China)."
Improved Sino-US ties are "in the interest not only of our respective people, but in the interest of the world." （編輯：趙露）