Bush speaks out in Asia against China's repression

BANGKOK, Thailand – With all eyes on Beijing, President Bush bluntly told China that America is strongly opposed to the way the communist government represses its people, a rebuke delivered from the heart of Asia on the cusp of the Olympic Games.

In perhaps his last major address in Asia, Bush said that America speaks out for a free press, free assembly and labor rights not to antagonize China's leaders, but because it's the only path the potent U.S. rival can take to reach its full potential.

"America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists," Bush said.

"We press for openness and justice not to impose our beliefs, but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs."

Along with his chiding, Bush offered praise for China's market reforms and hope that it will embrace freedom, reflecting the delicate balance that the president seeks to strike with the potent U.S. rival.

"Change in China will arrive on its own terms and in keeping with its own history and its own traditions. Yet change will arrive," he said.

Bush brought his message to Thailand, a turbulent democracy. The marquee speech of his three-country trip hailed deepening ties between the U.S. and Asia. He pledged that whoever follows him in the White House will inherit an alliance that is now stronger than ever.

The president planned to quickly pivot from his speech to a full day of outreach toward the people of Myanmar, also known as Burma, who live under military rule across the border.

Yet heading eagerly on Thursday to the Beijing Olympics himself as a sports fan, Bush faced pressures all around: a desire not to embarrass China in its moment of glory, a call for strong words by those dismayed by China's repression, and a determination to remind the world that he has been pushing China to allow greater freedom during his presidency.

But his message will surely be noted in China, which has already knocked Bush for intruding in its affairs by hosting Chinese dissidents at the White House ahead of the games.

"The leadership in Beijing will almost certainly find his comments irritating or objectionable," said Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "But they will clearly understand that the United States will not impose any real consequences if they do not make progress on human rights."

Seeking an event scrubbed free of protest, China has rounded up opponents and slapped restrictions on journalists, betraying promises made when China landed the hosting rights.

Bush says he built a relationship with China's leaders of honesty and candor that allowed him to have more influence. He cited examples of significant alliance over Taiwan, North Korea's nuclear program and shared economic concerns. He has also been adamant that the Olympics is not a time to pursue U.S. political agenda.

Given his setting, Bush devoted a surprisingly small portion of his speech to Myanmar. One of the world's poorest countries, Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962, when the latest junta came to power after brutally crushing a pro-democracy uprising in 1988. Mass street demonstrations, led by Buddhist monks, were again put down last September.

"Together, we seek an end to tyranny in Burma," Bush said. "The noble cause has many devoted champions, and I happen to be married to one of them."

First lady Laura Bush is an outspoken advocate for Myanmar, drawing attention to a southeast Asian nation unfamiliar to many Americans. On Thursday in Thailand she will visit a refugee camp in Mae La, home to thousands of people who fled Myanmar's violence.

After his speech, Bush will visit Mercy Centre, which is based in Bangkok's largest slum and provides help to children living with HIV or AIDS. The center is run by Joseph Maier, a priest from Longview, Wash.

Bush will also get an update on the recovery from the cyclone that devastated Myanmar's heartland and killed more than 80,000 people in May; have lunch with Burma activists; and do an interview with local radio in hopes of influencing events across the border.

Bush heralds Thailand's democracy as alive and well, but it is deeply embattled.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's six-month-old coalition government came to power in elections, but only after a bloodless coup against predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra. Samak is accused of blocking corruption charges against Thaksin and trying to amend the constitution to cling onto power.