As human-rights protesters cried out down the street, Chinese President Hu Jintao told a New Haven audience that China’s political system is not going to change. He vowed peaceful international cooperation, especially with Yale: Hu invited 100 Yale students and faculty to visit his country this summer. “I know that many of our students and faculty will take this up with delight,” gushed Yale President Rick Levin, who hosted Hu.
Yale was Hu’s last stop on his debut trip to the U.S.A. After making deals with Boeing and Microsoft in Seattle and paying a visit to President Bush, Hu came to Yale’s Sprague Hall on Thursday around noon. He spoke for about 45 minutes to an audience of 600, mostly Yale professors and students with a special interest in China. In a speech translated into English on handheld radios, he foretold China’s plan of “peaceful development” and economic growth. Then he took written questions from the audience —‚Äù carefully selected by his “old friend” Ernesto Zedillo, the former president of Mexico.
At a time when his government is facing intense criticism about human rights abuses, Hu avoided directly addressing complaints. He spoke instead of an historic commitment to “social harmony” and “unremitting self-improvement.” “Nothing is more valuable in the universe than human beings,” he said. He vowed to “vigorously promote social and economic development, protect people’s freedom, democracy and human rights according to law, achieve social fairness and justice and enable the 1.3 billion Chinese people to live a happy life.”
But when asked directly about human rights, he defended the system in place.
One questioner asked: Given a system that allows economic freedom while restricting personal freedoms, what is your strategy to enhance civil and human rights?
“To be frank with you, I’m a materialist,” replied Hu. He referred back to China’s escalating GDP —‚Äù which he said grew from $147.3 billion (in U.S. dollars) in 1978 to $2.2257 trillion in 2005. “The sustained and rapid economic development demonstrated that China’s political system suits its economic development.” He said China would work within the system to enforce democracy and human rights according to China’s laws. But “we will not simply copy the political model of other countries.”
Levin sat in a chair by the podium, nodding along to Hu’s speech. His hard push to make alliances with China, including making six personal trips, is paying off. After Yale nabbed the privilege earlier this week of being able to trade on the Chinese stock market —‚Äù they’re the only foreign institution allowed to do so —‚Äù the Yale-China friendship is only getting stronger. Their relationship is so good that Chinese authorities felt comfortable broadcasting Friday’s event live on Chinese TV —‚Äù the first time a Chinese head of state has ever broadcast live back to China, according to Chinese officials. Yale’s Hu website further details Yale’s history of warming up to China, including a new “Bulldogs in Beijing” internship program and increased admissions from China; 300 Chinese students are enrolled this year.
Hu and Levin sat down to exchange gifts before the talk. Levin gave Hu a portrait of, and a book from, the first Chinese student ever to graduate Yale: Yung Wing, class of 1854. (Hu’s speech referred to the student by a different name: Rong Hong). Levin also gave “a collection of the six volumes published jointly during the last decade by the Yale University Press and the China International Publishing Group,” according to Yale. Hu returned the favor with 1,346 books from Chinese scholars. Chinese officials also planted books promoting Chinese culture, economy and science and education in the hallways nearby the talk. Yale profs and students walked by and snatched them up.
As Hu’s 55-car cavalcade made its way down to Yale’s campus, students in the Yale School of Music entertained the crowd over the tapping of palm pilots, laptop computers and cell phones of the international press corps. Three hundred people showed up for the event. With security so stiff, some showed up three hours before the show, growing groggy from the transcontinental flight. One brazen TV reporter broke the tranquil sound of a traditional Chinese a capella singer to conduct a loud TV report, drawing glares from the lines of Secret Service and crowd control. Yale officials walked over to rebuke her.