A Chinese-American woman heckled Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House on Thursday just moments after President Bush urged Hu to allow the Chinese people to “speak freely.”
“Your days are numbered!” Wenyi Wang yelled as Hu was addressing dignitaries on the South Lawn at a welcoming ceremony. “President Bush, stop him from killing!”
Wang is a member of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that has accused the Chinese government of persecuting and killing its members to harvest their organs. Beijing denies the charges.
“President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong!” the woman yelled in Chinese and broken English from a riser occupied by members of the media about 30 feet from Hu and Bush.
The woman?s piercing voice caused Hu to pause just after beginning his remarks. He resumed after Bush leaned over and assured him, “You?re OK.”
A Chinese cameraman put his hand in front of Wang face in an apparent attempt to quiet her. After several minutes of shouting, Wang was led away by Secret Service uniformed officers and was charged with disorderly conduct and making intimidating remarks to a foreign official.
In China, government censors blacked out portions of a television broadcast that showed Wang?s outburst and anti-Hu protests outside the White House.
Moments before the disruption, Bush urged Hu to allow freedom of expression in China.
“China can grow even more successful by allowing the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely and to worship,” Bush said.
Hu made no reference to the protester, though he pledged “to promote the world?s cause of human rights.”
Later, Hu was asked by an American reporter in the Oval Office when China will “become a democracy with free elections.”
“I don?t know ? what do you mean by a democracy?” he replied. “We have always been expanding the democracy and freedoms for the Chinese citizens.”
He said his goal is “to develop a socialist democracy.”
“We will further expand the orderly participation of the Chinese citizens in political affairs so that the Chinese citizens will be in a better position to exercise their democratic rights in terms of democratic supervision, democratic management, and the democratic decision-making,” Hu said.
Wang was granted access to the South Lawn ceremony by obtaining a press credential from The Epoch Times newspaper, an advocate for Falun Gong.
The newspaper later denied knowing that she would use her access to stage a protest.
Hu and Bush met privately to discuss trade, terrorism and the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. Hu was unequivocal in his opposition to Taiwan?s desire for independence from mainland China.
“We will never allow anyone to make Taiwan secede from China by any means,” he said.
Bush shared this view, saying: “I do not support independence for Taiwan.”
