Alas, Bush fared better as an American tourist than as U.S. President in Asia

President Bush riding his troubles away with the Chinese Olympic cycling team on mountain bike trails in Beijing, China

Last week, on the eve of President Bush’s 8-day diplomatic tour of Asia, I wrote this article in which I predicted that the highlight of his trip – a Beijing summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao – would result in a conspicuous triumph of form over substance: where Bush’s words (especially about human rights) would only amount to sound and fury signifying nothing.

But who knew that so many Asians would be impressed by Bush’s cowboy charm. Because working the groupie rope line on some legs of his tour, he was greeted more like presidential rock star Bill Clinton than as a beleaguered and reviled war-monger – as he is so often characterized in the press these days. Indeed, strolling the Japanese gardens, mingling with students at a South Korean university and mountain biking with the Chinese Olympic cycling team, Bush seemed every bit the most popular (if no longer the most influential) man in the world.

Of course, none of these “photo-op” outings had anything to do with the declared purpose of Bush’s tour – which was to press the Chinese on human rights reforms and get them to open their markets to American companies.

Though, with respect to these substantive matters, American media reports about their summit yesterday might give one the impression that Bush and Hu proved me wrong (at least where human rights are concerned). After all, so many of their headlines today proclaim that Bush made headway in “pressing” the Chinese on human rights; and, some newspapers even heralded Bush’s visit to a Beijing church as evidence that China had heeded his calls for religious reforms.

But eventhough Bush may have pressed the human rights issue, he made no headway at all. And eventhough he visited a Church, he attended one of only 4 protestant churches sanctioned by the ruling Communist Party. In fact, China still restricts religious freedom to inhumane extremes – including an absolute ban on Catholic Churches because the Chinese apparently believe that religious proselytizing by Pope John Paul II was more responsible for the demise of the communist Soviet Union than the political brinkmanship of former President Ronald Reagan.

Despite the diplomatic spin, it was clear at their post-summit press conference that President Bush and President Hu are not looking in the same direction when it comes to improving human rights in China and bilateral trade

Nonetheless, at their post-summit press conference, Bush himself betrayed the triumphal headlines by offering this rather sobering assessment of his “frank discussions” with Hu on human rights:

“President Hu is a thoughtful fellow and he listened to what I had to say….It was very interesting in his comments that he talked about human rights. Those who watch China closely would say that maybe a decade ago a leader wouldn’t have uttered those comments.”

That’s it folks. Bush went all the way to China to press the Chinese on human rights reforms, and all he got was a concession from Hu to utter a few words about human rights…for the cameras. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens who utter political speech that contravenes the communist Party line or press for any of the democratic freedoms we take for granted are still being imprisoned in gulags indefinitely. And, as for Hu’s supposedly revolutionary comments, what Bush did not say (and what was not reported) is that he merely reiterated what every Chinese leader has been saying for decades:

Human rights in China are a matter of domestic concern and none of America’s business!

(But perhaps this diplomatic rebuff was lost in translation….)

Nonetheless, unlike the positive spin he tried to put on his human rights talks, Bush made no attempt to disguise his disappointment with the outcome of discussions on trade. And this is especially noteworthy because it was generally thought that – since the American market is indispensable to China’s economic superpower status – Bush would have considerable leverage to exact market concessions from Hu. Yet, by his own admission, Bush got nothing but a reiteration of stale promises which prompted him to lament that:

China needs to do more to provide fair opportunities for American farmers and businesses seeking access to China’s market.

Note: Where many American media reports about the summit were headlined by references to Bush pressing Hu on human rights, foreign media reports (like those from the Agence France-Presse [AFP]) were headlined by references to Hu rebuffing Bush at every turn. Alas, perception is reality (and news)…

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