Posted on 04/20/2006 4:43:09 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
A HECKLER from the Falun Gong spiritual movement, who entered White House grounds as a reporter, interrupted a formal arrival ceremony for Chinese President Hu Jintao today, prompting President George W. Bush to apologise to his guest.
After being welcomed by Mr Bush, the Chinese president was just beginning his response when a woman, who had been allowed into the press section, started shouting.
She was escorted away by a uniformed US guard.
"President Hu, your days are numbered. President Bush, make him stop persecuting Falun Gong," the woman yelled.
US officials later identified her as Wang Wenyi, 47, a reporter with The Epoch Times, an English-language publication strongly supportive of the meditation movement that is banned in China.
"This was unfortunate and I'm sorry this happened," Mr Bush told Mr Hu, according to Dennis Wilder, a senior official with the National Security Council.
The Secret Service charged Ms Wang with disorderly conduct under local statutes.
The US Attorney's office was weighing federal charges of "willing intimidation or disruption of a foreign official", said Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren.
Outside the White House, hundreds of yellow-clad Falun Gong disciples, Taiwanese nationalists, and Tibetan youth group members demonstrated against Mr Hu and his government.
The protesters denounced China's human rights record, its missile build-up near Taiwan and its 55-year-long rule over the Himalayan Buddhist region of Tibet.
"Communist Party = Tyranny + Lies", read a yellow banner, carried by one female member of Falun Gong, which China outlawed and brutally crushed in 1999.
"Taiwan is not a part of China," read a placard hoisted by one of around 300 Taiwan activists, who reject China's claim of sovereignty over the island. Tibetans, mostly US-based students, called for independence for their homeland.
A US official said Mr Hu's team was probably offended by the incident.
"The hardliners on Hu's team are going to ask, why did it take so long for us to pick her up. It is not a good thing," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mr Zahren of the Secret Service said the woman had passed through "all appropriate levels of security", including a metal detector. She was allowed into the event under a temporary press pass.
Falun Gong, which thrives overseas despite being largely stamped out in China, alleges that government persecution of the group includes a vast system of concentration camps, where doctors harvest inmates' organs for transplants.
China has vehemently denied this, but a UN investigator is examining the allegation.
In remarks at Mr Hu's arrival ceremony, Mr Bush did not mention Falun Gong, but he said he would discuss human rights.
He urged Mr Hu to allow "the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely and to worship".
see 280
I think we have "talked" on other threads
We are like oil and water
I will take the highroad and in parting
Have a nice day
I don't put President Bush in the same category as the ChiComs. Those b*stards deserve everything they get!
Those combinations are most productive of discussion. How boring and unenlightening is "yeah" "yeah" "yeah" "oh, Yeah"
That is not the way mature nations relate to each other. It is the way the Islamics do though.
Islamists and ChiComs have a very similar way of dealing with "problems" (see #275...again). Neither should be given the time of day.
I don't know how you can defend such barbarity.
hold that thought I will get back to you
That is what I am hoping. We shall see. It was the wrong time and the wrong place but I admire the woman, she showed courage. And I feel a great sense of compassion for the Justice she is so desperate to achieve. Such an act would have been far more courageous in China where she would probably be executed. At least in America, we can say such things to heads of state(s) and live out the rest of our natural life spans. : )
I agree also with the rest of your comments except for the last.
President Bush is a diplomat, and has no choice but to be cordial to heads of state who are guests no matter how despicable. You are right.
There are times I wish our "civil" world didn't require us to abide such formalities. This is one of those times. We are forced to witness the injustice that a caring and brave woman tormented by the suffering of a great hero will likely endure, while the hero's tormentor receives a warm welcome and apology, from the most powerful leader of the strongest nation in the free world.
This brave lady goes at the top of my prayer list. And tomorrow I will call Congressman Chris Smith's (NJ) office to suggest that he advocate for her and Falon Gong.
I'd like to see out corporations STOP dealing with the Chicoms. And I for one, would rather not see their leaders welcomed in this country. But I truthfully don't know the best strategy for dealing with them. Even Reagan welcomed them as guests and kept diplomatic channels open and met with Gorbachov, all the while playing hardball with the Soviets.
One of my favorite anecdotes about Reagan, is the one in which he planned a little trip for Gorachov, while he was visiting, and they jetted over fly over country. Reagan showed Gorbachov all the nice homes the people in the U.S. owned, and how nice life can be for the average citizen in a Democracy in an effort to reach him. Such a simple gesture to the leader of a country at which he aimed American missiles. As tough as Reagan was, he had the innocent sincerity and enthusiasm of a child and the consummate tenacity of a used car salesman, regarding democracy. He was constantly thinking of ways to convert people to it and never ceased in his effort to persuade Americans to conservatism. Oh, how I miss him! : )
Yes, you have been. You went way beyond a simple realpolitic "recognition" that we have to "deal with the Chinese".
Those are standard cliches, meaningless and regurgitated endlessly by the mainstream press. You went a step farther in defending the comunists with false moral relativism and unnecessary name calling (dingbat) of the woman who pulled this off.
Why is my question. You seem to feel very strongly about defending the communists (as opposed to recognizing realpolitic realities).
The communist government allowed/fomented destruction of our embassy just a few years ago, burning down consulates. Your comments are so silly.
The problem is that if any of our Presidents are going to invite muderous tyrnats to the White House, there is a good chance things like this will happen.
This after Reagan clearly stated they were an evil empire. This while, as you say, playing hardball. The communists in China have not been criticized properly nor do we play hardball with them.
Those are the differences.
Hmmmm ...You can be anything you wish on the internet..
God Bless Our President.
Unfortunately, the Chinese make better Communists than the Russians ever did. Most of them are perfectly happy to have no political rights as long as their government keeps them somewhat well-off and doesn't appear weak to the West like the Manchu Dynasty did.
I simply don't invite murdering thugs to my house at all. Come to think of it neither did the Chinese who had their heads blown off by the Chinese government...Tell me how would you treat a head of a state of a murdering Communist government? With higher honors than what even our servicemen Killed In Action or later die now receive? The visit should have been very low key. That man receives a higher than any other head of state from any other nation in Washington DC.
So now should we welcome Castro and Saddam {after releasing him} to our country and give them the same respect and honors? Should Bush wine and dine the president of Iran as well? You tell me the moral difference between these leaders I'd like to hear the spin. What was tyranny a generation ago is openly embraced today.
Those of us who were true Reagan supporters are also supporters of this President, and those who now deify Reagan and hate Bush, were most likely never supporters of Reagan in the first place.
(Either that, or did so in ignorance then, or now have fuzzy memories now).
Bashers of Bush were also bashers of Reagan for the same reasons. He wasn't conservative enough.
Clear out the cobwebs of your memory.
Just trying to calm the emotional nonsense that's been going on on this forum lately.
Conservatives are supposed to THINK. The emotions around here are reminiscent to a Jr. High girls' locker room.
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