Stefan has already linked at the end of From One Unelected Socialist to Another, but just so everyone sees and remembers: Hao Wu is still in prison. Hao is a Chinese blogger and filmmaker who has been held without charge since February 22nd. The reason is unknown, but may have something to do with the documentary he was filming on underground Christian churches in China. He languishes in jail while Mrs. Gregoire is too "polite" to offend her guest by raising pesky human rights issues. I trust that President Bush will not be so squeamish.
Business is Business!
Why should she go out of her way to upstage him!
I am sure Queen Christine has some concerns over freedom in China!
So she will properly let President Bush, Sec. of State Rice and the bunch deal with that.
We elected President Bush to deal with China!
Ms. Gregoire was not appointed to insult China, but instead to make money for Washington State BIG Business!
This is one of her highest points in her short four years as Gov.
Posted by: Andrew Roberts on April 19, 2006 11:26 AMBusiness is Business!
Why should she go out of her way to upstage him!
I am sure Queen Christine has some concerns over freedom in China!
So she will properly let President Bush, Sec. of State Rice and the bunch deal with that.
We elected President Bush to deal with China!
Ms. Gregoire was not appointed to insult China, but instead to make money for Washington State BIG Business!
This is one of her highest points in her short four years as Gov.
This is a Bush thing and don't forget it. The Chinese lets us buys stuff, but they don't let Microsoft sell their goods and they don't buy many Boeing planes.
These are all big ticket items and ones the Chinese want from us. It isn't a big deficit reducer, but it is one the Bush bunch can reach out and make China buy.
Oh, Microsoft and Boeing are Washington state companies. If the queen were really into it, she would have hammered home apples and other "Washington" state exports. Why don't the Chinese import our products like we allow them to import ours?
If you really are as anti-Bush as your dig was, at least acknowledge that the queen could have talked about our other products. Maybe it was stage fright??
Posted by: swatter on April 19, 2006 11:36 AMNot to pick nits, but Boeing is an Illinois company - Chicago specifically. After the state threw millions of dollars of tax breaks at them, they packed up and moved because the state's business climate they were complicit in creating wasn't good enough for them. Never forget that.
Posted by: jimg on April 19, 2006 12:14 PMShe does need to make sure that WA business climate doesn't make the symbolic move (first warning) into a real move by chasing all the final assembly to Long Beach, CA and St. Louis in the old MD plants. The old Hughes Space organization in CA could handle a lot of the military business too.
Posted by: Fred on April 19, 2006 12:40 PMThat's the real important question. Posted by: Reporterward on April 19, 2006 01:10 PM
I could not agree more! Posted by: Andrew Roberts on April 19, 2006 08:14 PM
What if Washington State doesn't play nice? Will China suddenly stop shipping into our ports because we point out that people are being abused? I don't think so. We are the customer and we can ask all sorts of things from our supplier. I guess I am naive in that China wants to sell to us more than we need to buy.
Does anyone else wonder where our Union Activists and Communists for Human Rights are hiding during this visit?
It does seem like our political calendar is full, what with this country and that country wanting us to cow-tow to them while they visit. Oh wait, I forgot, they aren't visiting!
Posted by: Elaine on April 19, 2006 09:52 PMBut, Clinton did have a point. Defeat the Communists through trade and raise the standard of living in these countries.
Elaine, it is my understanding the world is clamping down on the Chinese monetary policy; this trip and the sudden surge in buying Boeing planes is a reluctant offshoot of "Chinese" capitulation.
This is a PR trip and nothing more. After he is gone, it will be business as usual.
I read in one of the investment web pages that gold is being bought up right and left by the Chinese. That is one of the reasons for the price surge. Another is the lack of mining.
Posted by: swatter on April 20, 2006 07:17 AMconsider south africa's apartheid. from one of the most notorious regimes in 1990 to the unquestioned leader of the african continent. china's political transformation seems inevitable, but the timeline seems uncertain.
note that hu is not here on a state visit--this trip was not afforded that prestigious status.
anyways, i question gregoire's capacity to have a meaningful impact for good, bad or otherwise with hu.
Yeah, me too. Too bad about this then:
"The White House's acquiescence to a Chinese demand that Mr. Hu not be subjected to possibly embarrassing queries about political prisoners, religious freedom or censorship of the Internet symbolizes a major element of Mr. Bush's policy — his willingness to relegate China's worsening performance on political freedom and human rights to a back burner."
C'mon, Mr. President... you can do better than that!
Posted by: Frank Bruno on April 20, 2006 10:41 AMbush is the "decider." unfortunately he has a track record of making poor decisions, this one being the most recent. Posted by: dinesh on April 20, 2006 11:26 AM
There, fixed it.....
Posted by: alphabet soup on April 20, 2006 12:34 PM