CHINA: President Bush yesterday held up American values as a model for China, urging the country's leaders to expand personal, religious and political freedoms for its people.
In a speech broadcast live to the Chinese people from Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, Mr Bush said he hoped to see China one day introduce full democratic elections and religious choice.
Freedom of religion, he said, was not something to be feared. "It's to be welcomed, because faith gives us a moral core and teaches us to hold ourselves to high standards, to love and to serve others, and to live responsible lives," he added.
Mr Bush told Chinese students who questioned him on Taiwan that the US would help Taiwan defend itself if it was provoked, but hoped Beijing and Taipei could resolve things peacefully.
Taiwan yesterday warmly welcomed Mr Bush's pledge that Washington would stick by a commitment to help defend the island, saying his comments were significant, as he had made them in Beijing.
"This is the first US president in nearly 20 years to mention the Taiwan Relations Act for the first time on the mainland," Taiwan's Foreign Minister, Mr Eugene Chien, said.
"And he mentioned it twice," he added, referring to the act passed by the US Congress in 1979, reaffirming a commitment to Taiwan and pledging to maintain arms sales to the island.
Rather than explicitly criticising China's political system, Mr Bush in his half-hour address on the last day of his three-nation Asia tour yesterday extolled the US system.
"Life in America shows that liberty, paired with law, is not to be feared," he said.
"We are a free nation, where men and women have the opportunity to achieve their dreams.
"You can support the policies of our government, or you are free to openly disagree with them."
Mr Bush said he looked forward to the day when China would expand democratic elections to the national level.
"Change is coming. China is already having secret ballot and competitive elections at the local level," he added.
"Nearly 20 years ago, a great Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping ... said that China would eventually expand democratic elections all the way to the national level. I look forward to that day."
Mr Bush's address was introduced by China's heir apparent and Vice President, Mr Hu Jintao, a graduate of Tsinghua University. Mr Hu is widely expected to take over from President Jiang Zemin when he retires as head of the Communist Party later this year.