[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 30 (Monday, August 4, 2008)]
[Pages 1061-1064]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Fuqing Yang, CCTV, China

July 30, 2008

    Mr. Yang. So, thank you very much, Mr. President, for joining us.
    The President. Thank you, sir.

Olympic Games

    Mr. Yang. The much anticipated Beijing Olympic games will be opening 
in Beijing in just about a week's time. And you will be attending the 
opening ceremonies on August

[[Page 1062]]

the 8th. And the Chinese people are very much looking forward to your 
visit. So, at this moment, what are your expectations for the Beijing 
games? And what kind of messages will you bring to the Chinese people?
    The President. First message to the Chinese people is, I respect the 
Chinese people, respect the history, tradition. And I'm coming as the 
President of a friend, and I'm coming as a sportsman. And I'm looking 
forward to the competition.
    I'm looking forward to seeing--I think I'm going to go to the U.S.-
Chinese basketball game. I understand Yao Ming is back on the court, and 
it will be an interesting challenge for the U.S. team. It will be 
exciting for me to see the athletes compete, and to watch the Chinese 
fans respond, in this case, to the basketball game.
    It's going to be exciting. And I'm not coming alone. My wife is 
coming. A lot of my family is coming as well. So it's going to be great.

Olympic Games/President's Decisionmaking/China-U.S. Relations

    Mr. Yang. Okay. You are under a kind of pressure from politicians 
here in Washington who call on you not to go to Beijing.
    The President. Yes.
    Mr. Yang. But you insist on going. So, out of what consideration did 
you make such a decision?
    The President. Well, first of all, I'm under pressure from 
politicians on a lot of fronts. I mean, this isn't the only issue that I 
get pressured on. And Presidents need to make their decision based upon 
what's best, not what's political.
    And I think it's best for U.S.-China's relations that I go. I know 
it's important for me to send a clear signal to the Chinese people that 
we respect them. I tell people that, of course, we've got differences 
with China on issues. They've got differences with us on issues.
    But the best way to conduct our diplomacy, and conduct our 
relations, is out of mutual respect. And it's much more likely a Chinese 
leader will listen to my concerns if he knows I respect the people of 
China. And so, I'm looking forward to going. I'm going to have a dinner 
with President Hu Jintao, who I like. I respect the man a lot.
    And do we agree on everything? Of course not. But do we agree to 
have good, cordial relations, and work hard to make our relationship 
unique and strong? Absolutely.

President's Trip to China/Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC

    Mr. Yang. On the agenda of your visit to Beijing, you will be 
attending the opening ceremony of the new U.S. Embassy in Beijing?
    The President. Absolutely.
    Mr. Yang. And the new Chinese Embassy was just opened in Washington.
    The President. Last night. Yes, I know it. Isn't that exciting?
    Mr. Yang. Yes, very exciting, a very beautiful building. I attended 
the opening ceremony.
    The President. That's what I hear. You know, I.M. Pei is a famous 
architect who did the Chinese building.
    Mr. Yang. Yes.
    The President. So it just shows 30 years of a relationship that 
grows. And I found it very interesting somebody said, ``Well, what does 
that mean?'' Well, first of all, we wouldn't be opening new embassies or 
celebrating a 30th anniversary of relationship if, one, the 
relationships weren't important, and the relationships weren't good.
    I mean, if the relationships were terrible, no one would be 
celebrating anything. But it's interesting that both countries are 
opening new embassies in the same month. And so I am looking--well, not 
exactly the same month. Today is July and August--but in the same couple 
of weeks.
    And so, yes, I'm going to go. And guess who is going to join me? 
President Bush 41, my father, will be there as well. And he was the man 
that introduced me to China in the first place, in 1975.
    Mr. Yang. And you were only 18 years old?
    The President. No, no, no. I was older. I was--'75, I was 31.
    Mr. Yang. Thirty-one?
    The President. Yes, I was born in '46. My brother--see, my sister 
was 18 during the time.

[[Page 1063]]

    Mr. Yang. Okay.
    The President. But, yes, no, look, I was a pretty old guy. And I 
explored around Beijing on a bicycle. It was a interesting time. Totally 
different city then than it is today.

China

    Mr. Yang. Yes. And you also paid three visits in your capacity as 
the President of the United States to China. And, in a sense, you bear 
witness to the changes in China too.
    The President. Absolutely. It's amazing.
    Mr. Yang. So, yes, how would you elaborate on the changes in the 
past 30 years, since this year also marks the 30th anniversary of 
China's opening up and reform?
    The President. Yes, 30 years ago, there were hardly any automobiles. 
And everybody was on bicycle, truly. Masses of people, me included, 
riding along on our bike. Everybody wore the same clothes, except for 
me. People--I can remember going to a department store, and nobody had 
seen a westerner. And they were amazed when I would go. And I would go 
with my mother and my sister. And they were amazed. It was like we were, 
like, from a different planet.
    Today, it's a much different society. First of all, there's--very 
colorful. And obviously, there's a lot of automobiles. It seems like 
more automobiles than bicycles. And people are used to a relationship 
between the West and China. It's a common occurrence. There's a lot of 
exchanges.
    One of the first--I think the first graduation speech I ever gave as 
President was to Notre Dame, and they were honoring the honors graduates 
in the sciences. And many of the people there were Chinese citizens, 
young Chinese students, girls and boys; got their degrees at the Notre 
Dame University. It was just--just shows how different things are after 
30 years.

China-U.S. Relations

    Mr. Yang. Okay. So there's also, like, China and the United States 
are going to celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations in January 2009.
    The President. Yes.
    Mr. Yang. Yes. How would you evaluate the developments between our 
two countries in the diplomatic field in the last 30 years? And, 
particularly, during two of your administrations, if you can give us a 
self-assessment?
    The President. Well, I think--look, I think they've grown very 
strategic. For example, the strategic dialog on economics that Secretary 
Paulson is leading, that is very unique. And so he goes to China, and 
the Chinese leaders come here. And our Cabinet, many of our Cabinet 
works with their counterparts. And it's a broadening, a strengthening 
relationship.
    We've dealt with some tough problems in a way that's cordial and 
respectful. And I would say that they're very good relations. And I told 
somebody the other day that it's amazing that the United States now has 
very good relations with China, South Korea and Japan, and the ASEAN 
countries, all at the same time. And I think that's positive for the 
region.
    And take the six-party talks. There's a common problem. If North 
Korea were to end up with a nuclear weapon, it would be very 
destabilizing and very troubling for all of us. So we decided to work 
together, sit around the table as five parties, saying the same thing to 
the North Koreans. And I'm hopeful that it'll work. But it shows our 
relationship has matured.

Six-Party Talks

    Mr. Yang. You mentioned the six-party talks. Also, six-party talks 
are high on your agenda during your administration for the last couple 
of years. With the demolition of the Yongbyon facility, the cooling 
tower, specifically, it makes some tangible progress; probably gave 
momentum before the talks. So how do you see this mechanism will go on?
    The President. Yes.
    Mr. Yang. What kind of messages, if you want to say, to the six-
party talks?
    The President. Well, first of all, I value our partners. The only 
way to solve this peacefully is for us to work together to send a common 
message. I thank the Chinese Government for their leadership on this 
issue.
    I firmly believe multilateral diplomacy can work this issue better 
than bilateral diplomacy; secondly, that we're at a very critical

[[Page 1064]]

moment now for the North Korean Government to make a decision as to 
whether or not they're going to verify what they said they would do. 
It's one thing to say it, but I think it's going to be very important 
for them to understand that we expect them to show us.
    Now, there's no question the cooling tower went down; that's perfect 
verification; everybody saw it. But there's going to be--need to be 
verification on the plutonium program, the enriched uranium program and 
the proliferation program. And the decision is theirs. And if they make 
the decisions that we're comfortable with, then we move the process 
forward. And I certainly hope they make the right decision.
    Mr. Yang. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Yes. I'm looking forward to going to Beijing.
    Mr. Yang. Good wishes to you for a very pleasant visit to Beijing.
    The President. I bet I have one. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Yang. Thank you very much.

Note: The interview was taped at 2:35 p.m. in the Map Room at the White 
House for later broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to Yao 
Ming, center, Houston Rockets. The transcript was released by the Office 
of the Press Secretary on July 31. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of this interview.