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President Bush Speaks at
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Beijing, People's Republic of China
10:35 A.M. (Local
PRESIDENT
BUSH: Vice President Hu, thank you very much for
your kind and
generous remarks. Thank
you for welcoming me and my wife, Laura, here.
(Applause. I
see she's keeping pretty
good company, with the Secretary of State, Colin
Powell. It's
good to see you, Mr.
Secretary. (Applause. And I see my National
Security Advisor, Ms.
Condoleezza Rice,
who at one time was the provost at Stanford
University. So she's
comfortable on
university campuses such as this. Thank you for
being here, Condi.
(Applause.
I'm so grateful for the hospitality,
and honored for the reception at one of China's,
and the world's, great universities.
This university was founded,
interestingly enough, with the
support
of my country, to further ties between our two
nations. I know how
important this
place is to your Vice President. He not only
received his degree here, but
more
importantly, he met his gracious wife here.
(Laughter. I want to thank the students
for giving me the chance to meet with
you, the chance to talk a little bit about my
country
and answer some of your
questions. The standards and reputation of this
university are
known around the world,
and I know what an achievement it is to be here.
So,
congratulations. (Applause. I don't
know if you know this or not, but my wife and I
have
two daughters who are in college,
just like you. One goes to the University of
Texas. One
goes to Yale. They're twins.
And we are proud of our daughters, just like I'm
sure your
parents are proud of you. My
visit to China comes on an important anniversary,
as the
Vice President mentioned. Thirty
years ago this week, an American President arrived
in
China on a
trip designed to end decades of estrangement and
confront centuries of
suspicion.
President Richard Nixon showed the world that two
vastly different
governments could meet
on the
grounds of common interest, in
the spirit of mutual respect. As they left the
airport
that day, Premier Zhou Enlai
said this to President Nixon:
the
vastest ocean in the world -- 25 years of no
communication.
During the 30 years
since, America and China have exchanged many
handshakes of
friendship and commerce.
And as we have had more contact with each other,
the citizens
of both countries have
gradually learned more about each other. And
that's important.
Once America knew
China only by its history as a great and enduring
civilization. Today,
we see a China
that is still defined by noble traditions of
family, scholarship, and honor.
And we
see a China that is becoming one of the most
dynamic and creative societies in
the
world -- as demonstrated by the knowledge and
potential right here in this room.
China is on a rising path, and America
welcomes the emergence of a strong and peaceful
and prosperous China. (Applause.
As America learns more about China, I
am concerned that
the Chinese people do
not always see a clear picture of my country. This
happens for
many reasons, and some of
them of our own making. Our movies and television
shows
often do not portray the values
of the real America I know. Our successful
businesses
show a strength of American
commerce, but our spirit, community spirit, and
contributions to each other are not
always visible as monetary success.
Some of the erroneous pictures of
America are painted by others. My friend, the
Ambassador to China, tells me some
Chinese textbooks talk of Americans of
the weak and repressing the
poor.
teaches that special agents of the
FBI are used to
neither of these is true -- and while
the words may be leftovers from a previous era,
they
are misleading and they're
harmful.
In fact, Americans feel a
special responsibility for the weak and the poor.
Our
government spends billions of
dollars to provide health care and food and
housing for
those who
cannot
help themselves -- and even more important, many
of our citizens contribute
their own
money and time to help those in need. American
compassion also stretches way
beyond
our borders. We're the number one provider of
humanitarian aid to people in need
throughout the world. And as for the
men and women of the FBI and law enforcement,
they're working people; they,
themselves, are working people who devote their
lives to
fighting crime and corruption.
My country certainly has its share of
problems, no question about that. And we have
our faults. Like most nations we're on
a long journey toward achieving our own ideals of
equality and justice. Yet there's a
reason our nation shines as a beacon of hope and
opportunity, a reason many throughout
the world dream of coming to America. It's
because we're a free nation, where men
and women have the to achieve their dreams. No
matter your background or your
circumstance of birth, in America you can get a
good
education, you can start your own
business, you can raise a family, you can worship
freely, and help
elect the
leaders of your community and your country. You
can support the policies
of our
government, or you're free to openly disagree with
them. Those who fear freedom
sometimes
argue it could lead to chaos, but it does not,
because freedom means more
than every
man for himself. Liberty gives our citizens many
rights, yet expects them to
exercise
important responsibilities. Our liberty is given
direction and purpose by moral
character, shaped in strong families,
strong communities, and strong religious
institutions,
and overseen by a strong
and fair legal system. My country's greatest
symbol to the world
is the Statue of Liberty, and it was
designed by special care. I don't know if you've
ever
seen the Statue of Liberty, but if
you look closely, she's holding not one object,
but two.
In one hand is the familiar
torch we call the
book of law.
We're a nation of laws. Our courts are
honest and they are independent. The
President -- me -- I can't tell the
courts how to rule, and neither can any other
member of
the executive or legislative
branch of government. Under our
law,
everyone stands equal. No one is above the law,
and no one is beneath it.
All political
power in America is limited and it is temporary,
and only given by the
free vote of the
people. We have a Constitution, now two centuries
old, which limits and
balances the
power of the three branches of our government, the
judicial branch, the
legislative
branch, and the executive branch, of which I'm a
part.
Many of the values that guide our
life in America are first shaped in our families,
just as they are in your country.
American moms and dads love their children and
work
hard and sacrifice for them,
because we believe life can always be better for
the next
generation. In our families,
we find love and learn responsibility and
character.
And many Americans
voluntarily devote part of their lives to serving
other people.
An amazing number --
nearly half of all adults in America -- volunteer
time every week
to make their
communities better by mentoring children, or by
visiting the sick, or caring
for the
elderly, or helping with thousands of other needs
and causes.
This is one of the great
strengths of my country. People take for helping
others,
without being told, motivated
by their good hearts and often by their faith.
America is a
nation guided by faith.
Someone once called us
may interest you
-- 95 percent of Americans say they believe in
God, and I'm one of them.
When I met President Jiang Zemin in
Shanghai a few months ago, I had the honor of
sharing with him how faith changed my
life and how faith contributes to the life of my
country. Faith points to a moral law
beyond man's law, and calls us to duties higher
than
material gain. Freedom of religion
is 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.
If you travel across America -- and I
hope you do some day if you haven't been there
-- you will find people of many
different ethic backgrounds and many different
faiths.
We're a varied nation. We're
home to 2.3 million Americans
of
Chinese ancestry, who can be found working in the
offices of our corporations, or
in the
Cabinet of the President of the United States, or
skating for the America Olympic
team.
Every immigrant, by taking an oath of allegiance
to our country, becomes just as
just as
American as the President. America shows that a
society can be vast and it can be
varied, yet still one country,
commanding the allegiance and love of its people.
And all these qualities of America were
widely on display on a single day,
September the 11th, the day when
terrorists, murderers, attacked my nation.
American
policemen and firefighters, by
the hundreds, ran into burning towers in
desperation to
save their fellow
citizens. V olunteers came from everywhere to help
with rescue efforts.
Americans donated
blood and gave money to help the families of
victims. America had
prayer services
all over our country, and people raised flags to
show their pride and unity.
And you
need to know, none of this was ordered by the
government; it happened
spontaneously,
by the initiative of free people.
Life
in America shows that liberty, paired with law is
not to be feared. In a free
society,
diversity is not disorder. Debate is not strife.
And dissent is not revolution. A free
society trusts its citizens to seek
greatness in themselves and their country.