Bush - 'Dissent is not revolution'

BEIJING -- President Bush sought to dispel China's doubts and distrust of America, urging the Chinese on Friday to embrace liberty, tolerance and religious freedom. "Dissent is not revolution," Bush said as skeptical university students pressed him about U.S. policy on Taiwan.

The president reaffirmed the United States' obligation to protect the security of Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway republic. Calling for a peaceful resolution of the decades-old debate, Bush said, "I hope it happens in my lifetime."

More than 200 students -- half listening to interpreters through headphones, the other half following in English -- applauded politely as Bush ended his speech and began a question-and-answer session. Dozens of hands shot up into the air.

The speech came 30 years after President Nixon first opened the West to China with a visit to Beijing. He was introduced by Vice President Hu Jintao, the leading candidate to succeed Jiang next year. Nixon visited China in February 1972.

The first question was a double-barreled challenge to U.S. policy on Taiwan and Bush's missile defense plans, which are opposed by Beijing. The president repeated his views on both topics, calling for a "peaceful dialogue" on Taiwan.

The audience applauded loudly when Bush reaffirmed America's policy that there is only one China, and Taiwan is part of it.

Later, Bush was pressed again to explain why he doesn't speak more about a unified China. "We're back on Taiwan again!" Bush said with a laugh. "This seems to be a topic on people's minds, obviously. I can't say it any more clearly than I'm anxious that there be a peaceful resolution."

But Bush added: "We will help Taiwan protect herself if she is provoked."

No lectures

In his address, Bush sought to avoid lecturing the Chinese, but he argued passionately that America is a better place than China for the human spirit to flourish.

"Diversity is not disorder. Debate is not strife. And dissent is not revolution," Bush said.

His speech, which China promised to broadcast live, came on the last day of a weeklong Asian trip, after he failed to persuade China's leadership to halt sales of missile technology and soften its stance on religious freedoms.

"A free society trusts its citizens to seek greatness in themselves and their country," Bush told students and faculty at Tsinghua University. Bush spoke to several hundred students from a red-carpeted stage in an intimate atrium of polished stone. The students applauded when Bush said America welcomes "the emergence of a strong, peaceful and prosperous China."

"My country certainly has its share of problems and we have our faults; like most nations we're on a long journey toward achieving our own ideals of equality and justice," Bush said. "Yet there is a reason our nation shines as a beacon of hope, a reason many throughout the world dream of coming to America."

He decried what he called Chinese misconceptions about the United States, blaming the disconnect on a distortion of American values in U.S. popular culture. Bush lay some blame on China too, noting that Chinese textbooks accuse Americans of bullying the weak and repressing the poor.

"Neither of these is true -- and while the books may be leftovers from a previous era, they are misleading and harmful," Bush said.

He tried to change the perceptions in a free-flowing questioning session with students that belied the skepticism many Chinese have about America.

In one pointed exchange, a questioner pressed Bush about poverty and violence in America. The president acknowledged that conditions in the United States are not entirely perfect but said, "Our government is very generous in the amount of money it spends trying to help people help themselves."

In response to multiple questions about missile defense, Bush said the Chinese people should not fear such a system. "Our nation will develop defenses to help our friends, our allies and others around the world protect ourselves from ... weapons of mass destruction," he said.