Bush Sr. worried China faces trade backlash in U.S.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China needs to do more to address its trade deficit with the United States or risk a backlash from protectionist elements in the newly Democrat-controlled legislature, former President George Bush said on Thursday.
Bush, father of the current U.S. president and a self-described "old friend" of China, scarcely mentioned human rights in his speech at a Chinese university, praising the Beijing government and saying Sino-U.S. ties would be this century's most important relationship.
"The huge trade deficit remains a very sensitive issue for the United States and in the long run an issue for the leaders of China," Bush told students at the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China should act to boost domestic demand, crack down on copyright piracy and make its currency more flexible, Bush said, to tackle the deficit with the U.S., which hit a record $24.4 billion in October.
"These kinds of steps are critical if China wants to prevent an erosion of political support in the United States for strong relations with China, and to counter the forces for protectionism in the United States," said Bush.
"My worry is that some of the leaders in the new Congress are anti-free trade; they are more for protectionism," added the former Republican president, who first came to Beijing in 1974 to help pave the way for restoring Sino-U.S. diplomatic ties.
"We're coming into a difficult period in the United States," he added.
The Democrat's capture of both the House and the Senate in mid-term elections last month revived concerns about new trade protectionism against China, though also raised hope among rights activists for more U.S. pressure on Beijing.
The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is to be led by Nancy Pelosi, a frequent China critic.
The California liberal never fails to commemorate anniversaries of the June 4, 1989, killings of pro-democracy activists near Tiananmen Square, and has often voted against China on trade and security issues.
Bush, 83, said he rejected worries that China's economic development and growing global political clout represented a threat to world stability, adding he had "great respect" for Chinese President Hu Jintao.
"I believe that China's leaders want to play a constructive role on the world stage," he said.
Bush referred briefly to Tiananmen as a "disturbance," and said he believed the question of Taiwan -- a self-governing, democratic island China claims as its own -- was an internal Chinese matter.
"I am a friend of China, and I do not believe China today is seeking hegemony over its neighbors," he said. "China does not have a history of aggression against other countries."
