US and China "do not agree on everything"

Despite all the best efforts of the White House to greet China's president, Hu Jintao, with all the pomp and circumstance reflecting his position as leader of the world's newest superpower, it turned out to be a day marred by gaffes.

A White House announcer introducing the national anthems mistakenly referred to China as "the Republic of China", which is the formal name of its arch rival, Taiwan. Mainland China is known as the People's Republic of China.

If only the gaffes had stopped there.

But there was worse to come.

The occasion was disrupted when a member of the Falun Gong spiritual sect, accredited as a reporter for a sect-run publication to cover the ceremony at the White House, interrupted Mr. Hu's address and upset the elaborate choreography the Chinese delegation had regarded as the most important trophy of Mr. Hu's visit. Screaming, "President Bush, make him stop persecuting Falun Gong," the ethnic Chinese woman, Wenyi Wang, partly drowned out Mr. Hu. She continued shouting for more than a minute before security officers removed her.

The Chinese were later privately reported to be furious at the breach of security as the event was being carried live on Chinese TV and was hoped to be something of a propaganda coup for Mr Jintao at home.

What made the protest so unusual was that it took place in front of Mr Bush, a President who has gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure he is never in the presence of protesters.

Indeed, considering that this is a President who has set up the rather bizarrely named "Free Speech Zones" to cage anyone who might want to publicly protest against his policies, it really is rather astonishing - not only that Wenyi Wang was able to stage her protest - but that such actions don't happen more often to Bush as he appears in public.

Bush seems to have more in common with these authoritiarian figures than he would like us to believe, he just manages to keep his own protesters locked out of sight. Indeed, one of the great ironies of the day was the fact that President Bush had just claimed:

China has become successful because the Chinese people are experiencing the freedom to buy, and to sell, and to produce -- and China can grow even more successful by allowing the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely, and to worship.

The US police then immediately arrested Wenyi Wang for availing herself of that very right.

Nor did things improve from there on.

Bush attempted, yet again, to have China agree to some form of sanctions against Iran and were once again met with a firm rebuff.

Further proof, were any needed, that Bush really has no plan for how to deal with the Iranian situation and is stumbling around the UN demanding "action" that will eventually lead to stalemate, US humiliation and an ultimate choice between the Devil and the deep blue sea.

All in all another shabby day in the White House for The Great Leader.

Tags: US, China, Bush, Hu Jintao, protest, protester, President,