Bushie Comes to Town

The MSNBC/AP spin:

Bush brings human rights message to China
President attends church before meeting with leadership

Putting human rights atop his agenda, President Bush promoted religious freedom in this communist nation Sunday by attending church services before meeting top leaders.

Bush tried to send a visible message about human rights across this land of 1.3 billion people by worshipping at the Gangwashi Church, one of five officially recognized Protestant churches in Beijing. On a chilly morning, the president arrived at the church with his wife, Laura.

In the church’s guest book, Bush wrote “May God bless the Christians of China.”

Under the president’s inscription, the first lady wrote: “And with love and respect, Laura Bush.”

The State Department cited China this month as one of eight countries of “particular concern” for denying religious freedom. The White House urged China’s state-controlled media not to censor news of Bush’s visit.

The China Daily, the official English language newspaper in China, spin:

Bush's visit symbolic but still important

Anti-terrorism co-operation, nuclear stand-off on the Korean Peninsula and Iran, the Taiwan question, trade deficit, intellectual property rights protection, and bird flu.

The wide range of topics on the agenda during US President George W. Bush's visit to China shows that Washington and Beijing share more and more common interests, according to analysts.

This fact, they predict, will prompt Bush to sound a more positive note while outlining his administration's China policy in Beijing.

Now, I'm willing to give the China Daily the benefit of the doubt for now, I mean it is a daily newspaper, and this visit to church did just happen, but something tells me that the Chinese people are going to miss any comments Bush has to make about China's human rights...we shall see.