Hu Defends China's Actions in Rare Address to Media

By REBECCA BLUMENSTEIN

BEIJING -- Chinese President Hu Jintao, making an extremely rare direct address to the foreign media, defended his government's preparations for the coming Olympic Games in Beijing and pledged to continue reform policies despite increasing economic challenges.

 

"We have one wish. It is to make the Beijing Olympic Games, a global sports gathering, a success," Mr. Hu said. He acknowledged that this Olympic year has brought enormous challenges to China, including both high inflation and a series of natural disasters, including the massive earthquake in Sichuan province.

"China's domestic economy is facing increasing challenges and difficulties," he said. "We want to deepen reform and opening," he said, and use government policies to sustain economic growth and control price rises.

The Chinese government has been "working in earnest" to honor the commitments it made to get the Games, Mr. Hu told a group of foreign reporters Friday. Beijing's Olympic organizing committee has worked to create the right conditions for the Games, but also "for China to grow into the future," he said.

"The Beijing Olympic Games belongs to the Chinese people and, more importantly, to people across the world," Mr. Hu said.

Mr. Hu's comments come as China's preparations for the Summer Games, which will open a week from Friday, have come under increasing international scrutiny -- not all of it favorable.

In some areas, China is accused of doing too much: Its extraordinary security measures, aimed at preventing both terrorist attacks and political protests, have aroused resentment from both Beijing residents and foreign visitors. Restrictions on visas have kept many tourists out of China for the Olympics, and large numbers of Beijing hotel rooms remain empty. Checkpoints and inspections around Beijing have blocked shipments of goods to supermarkets and other businesses. And foreign journalists continue to encounter blocks to Internet access and interference from nervous officials despite government promises of unfettered reporting.

Protest groups opposed to China's treatment of domestic political critics, and its relations with governments like those of Sudan, Myanmar and Zimbabwe, have also used the Olympics to draw attention their cause. Mr. Hu repeated the Chinese government's often-expressed opposition to such moves. "I don't think that politicizing the Games will do anything to advance the issues. It goes against the shared aspirations of people from around the world," he said.

In other cases, China has lagged behind. City authorities in Beijing have struggled to clear up the capital's notorious air pollution in time for the Games, and in recent days have unveiled ever-stricter restrictions on traffic and industry. Mr. Hu said the government is working to achieve clear skies and clean water. He added that the government is also trying to create an "awareness of the conservation culture in the Chinese people."

Mr. Hu said the government wants to "focus more on the environment and controlling pollution. We want to pay more attention to improving people's lives."

The 66-year-old Mr. Hu's appearance before foreign reporters Friday was a rare move into the public spotlight for a leader who has long shunned it. Mr. Hu has never given a news conference in China or abroad.

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You silly rabbit, tricks are for kids.

Grow up and act like a responsible adult like everyone else. 

You are like the kid who did not want to build a tree house with the other kids. Instead, you built your own derelict tree house by yourself. Now, you are afraid to ask for help to repair it, and you are too scared to build a new tree house.

 

-Curtis in Asia