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CNN Live Today

Made In China; Bush-Hu Meeting

Aired April 20, 2006 - 10:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta at the CNN world headquarters, in for Daryn Kagan today.
And you've been looking at the live pictures there taking place right there at the White House with the Chinese President Hu Jintao being hosted by President Bush there at the White House. President Hu was talking primarily about his objectives, his country's objectives on trade, as well as human rights.

But this ceremony did not take place without incident. While there were some protests taking place outside of the White House, we also saw that this ceremony as President Hu was speaking was interrupted by a female Chinese heckler right there in the stands of the press corps. Let's listen in for a moment before she was escorted away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Bush, stop him. Stop him. President Bush, stop him (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now we don't yet know the story on how this woman was positioned right there among the photographers in the press core, but you can look at the pictures that took place shortly thereafter when she was escorted away from uniformed officers and secret service members there and, of course, obviously, likely detaining her right now, questioning her, getting some translators to find out exactly what is at issue right here.

Our Elaine Quijano was there at the ceremony when all of this was taking place, listening to both presidents speaking, as well as hearing and seeing the heckler there. We'll be joining her in a moment to get an idea of what that side of the story is.

Meantime, to help give you some real perspective on why this meeting between the Chinese and Americans is so important, we want you to just take a moment and look around your home or office just as we did here in the newsroom. Take a look at some of the items that we found all made in China. Your coffee cup, cell phones, computer monitors, speakers, speakers, your iPod, toys, even clothes and even dishes.

Chances are, a lot of the items that you're finding in your home, just like the items we found in the newsroom here, all made in China. And all of those goods apparently come with a hidden cost say a lot of critics. We're talking about $202 billion trade imbalance. Meaning while Americans lap up Chinese goods, China doesn't buy a whole lot American.

Well, getting back now to all those made in China items now. Exactly how much does saving money cost you in the long run? The author of "China Inc." has sorted a lot of this out. Ted Fishman joins me now from New York.

Hi, Ted.

TED FISHMAN, AUTHOR, "CHINA INC.": Hi, Fredricka.

I love your display there.

WHITFIELD: Oh, you like that? OK. We managed to get it all together and it wasn't difficult to find a lot of these products made in China. I mean, it was actually more difficult to find anything made somewhere else.

FISHMAN: Well, even walking over to the studio today I passed a variety store in Manhattan and it was getting its daily shipment and it was stacked high, you know about 10 feet high of boxes, each one marked "Made in China." It was a good reminder.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that something. So really people need to get used to the idea, if they haven't already, that, you know, China is a major economic force. But while people, Americans in particular, are enjoying all of these products, it really does come at a serious cost, doesn't it?

FISHMAN: Yes. There's a cost and there's a savings. You know, you mentioned the trade deficit, but that's not even the whole trade number. We absorb about a quarter of a trillion dollars worth of Chinese goods. You know, twenty years ago you couldn't find a single thing made in China in the shelves of the United States and that means that the people who were making those things here are no longer making those things.

Of course, the prices are much lower. If you calculate from those trade statistics what is the savings for an average American, it's about $600 a year, which, you know, that's more than the Bush tax cut.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hold on for a moment, Ted. I want to get right back to you because, as I mentioned earlier, during the President Hu's visit with President Bush there was a heckler in the crowd that disrupted things. Our Elaine Quijano was there to see and witness all of this. She's on the line with us right now.

And, Elaine, what do we know about the story of this woman and how she was able to get into the rafters with the press corps there to disrupt this meeting?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I think the details of that are going to have to come out later. But what I can tell you is what I saw from my vantage point, which was actually not too far away from where this woman was standing. I'm not sure if you actually have video to see her, but she was up on one of the risers, about three levels up from the ground level from where I was standing, perhaps 20 feet or so away from me where the cameras that are capturing this event were all stationed.

Now in that bank of cameras, I looked over and I could see her screaming essentially from almost the moment that the Chinese president began his remarks. And the one thing I did hear her say in English, she did say President Bush's name. At one point she said stop persecuting the fallen gong (ph). A reference to the spiritual movement in China, that the Chinese government cracked down beginning in 1999.

But, really, Fredricka, an extraordinarily embarrassing moment for this White House. A great deal of care has been taken to orchestrate essentially a picture-perfect ceremony here on the South Lawn of the White House. We had talked earlier about the difference between an official state visit and a working visit. The Chinese view this as an extraordinarily important moment for the Chinese president to see how, in fact, he is welcome by the Bush administration, by President Bush himself.

And so while the White House, because of the fact that there are still key differences between these two countries, is not calling this an official state visit. About the only thing missing was an official state dinner. So this moment now interrupted by that protester, a lone proteser, as far as I could tell, who actually was not apprehended, if you will.

She was not in an area that was readily accessible. As I said, she was up on the scaffolding that the photographers, photojournalists who captured these images at these kinds of events. And so it took some time for the uniformed secret service officers to take her away and all the while she was screaming in Chinese.

And so for President Bush and President Hu meeting, this ceremony was to be the moment that President Hu could point to back home in China and say that in fact the United States does not view China as a threat. That, in fact, that the Chinese leader is been given all of the prestige and pomp and ceremony of his predecessor and other world leaders. Really this is about respect. Again, though, this an embarrassing moment here on the South Lawn of the White House.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And now that moment not only embarrassing for the White House, but now the moment there with the heckler overshadowing the very message that the president was trying to convey, President Hu was trying to convey to President Bush and others there.

Let's talk about the invited guests, those who were allowed to be in attendance. Obviously in the rafters we saw a number of the photographers. Not everyone there is a members of the White House press core but people still have to go through great measures in which to get the passes, whether they're media or other people there. So what does this say about the gaps or the gaping holes that there might be in this vetting process or this security process there at the White House for this very event?

QUIJANO: Well, you know, certainly I can speak to the process that we, as members of the White House press core, have to go through. Obviously it's a different situation when you have traveling foreign press who come into these situations. You know, the number of people, just the sheer number of journalists was really something to behold. Chinese journalists that were brought in here this morning. It was something that was very noticeable. Quite a lot of activity, in fact, to sort of get them all in.

Where this woman was, we should note, was not actually necessarily where the reporters were. Again, she was where the photojournalists were, but not necessarily where the reporters were. You know, it's not clear exactly what kind of security gap there might have been that led her being able to get in here. Obviously it was not stringent enough. She was able to get in. You know, we'll obviously have to wait and see and learn more as the hours and days perhaps wear on.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So is there any way in kind of forecasting, based on all the preliminary researching and sources you've been talking to leading up to this, how much of a potential setback that interruption may have been for the kind of progress President Hu and President Bush have been trying to forge?

QUIJANO: Well, you know, Chinese experts, people who watch China and Chinese policies and the politics pointed out leading up to this that for President Hu this moment was so important. This was his first visit to the White House as the leader of the Chinese people, as he pointed out, 1.3 billion people. And, of course, many people in China watching to see very closely just how, in fact, he will be received here.

So this, again, an embarrassing moment. But certainly it will mar undoubtably their visit going forward. Because for the Chinese, at least according to those that I talked to, protocol matters, appearance matters, images matter. So there was a lot of negotiations surrounding this particular visit. How it would take place.

We saw it begin here with the formal welcoming ceremony, the 21- gun salute. There was the review of the military honor guard. You know, all of these events carefully staged, carefully crafted in order to show the Chinese people, really, that, in fact, the U.S. views China as a power to respect. So there is going to be now this one instance of this protester opening up their sessions today really sort of being a blemish, if you will, on this visit.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elaine Quijano, thank you so much.

Of course, we're going to continue to talk about some of these things that matter that Elaine was pointing out, how it matters to the economic, as well as the political future of the Chinese now trying to forge a better relationship with the Americans right after this break.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to more of CNN LIVE TODAY.

A wrinkle and embarrassing moment for the White House today. When you're looking right now on the right-hand side of your screen, this is the disruption that took place while the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, was speaking right before an audience of many dozens, as well as President Bush. And this Chinese heckler disrupting the remarks of President Hu while he was speaking.

On the left-hand side of your screen, you're looking at the live pictures of a number of people who had been collected outside the White House, including a number of protesters. A lot less disruptive. But it was this moment on the right-hand side of your screen that now launched this into more conversations now about the subtleties of the Chinese. We'll be evaluating in this very first visit of President Hu to the United States under the Bush administration.

Ted Fishman, rather, is an author of "China Inc." He knows the Chinese culture, the economic progress, and as well as the political aspirations of that country very well. And earlier we were talking about all the products that Americans have been accustomed to purchasing and getting used to all made in China. But right now let me talk to you about some of the subtleties that the Chinese will be evaluating.

They are looking at this meeting between President Hu and Bush very closely and now with this heckler you have to wonder if the Chinese are evaluating whether this White House has taken this visit seriously by allowing this kind of security breach potentially to happen.

FISHMAN: YOU know, the Chinese often don't believe excuses that Americans offer for mistakes. When the Chinese embassy was bombed in Belgrade, we said it was a mistake. The Chinese took to the streets and threw rocks and bottles. President Bush is going to say something like, welcome to my world. I hear hecklers all the time. This is America. But the Chinese are going to think that was a plant. That's not to say they'll see it on TV at home.

WHITFIELD: Because there's already a level of distrust, you're saying?

FISHMAN: Oh, yes, there's already a level of distrust. And even in the remarks by the two presidents, although it was all about world peace and trade and cooperation, there were skillfully-planted barbs so that each one was drawing their line in the sand. You heard it on Taiwan. You heard it on things like freedom. You heard it on issues of industrial cooperation. China very willing to say, look, we're a very big country. We are now a world player. You are not going make the rules for us. WHITFIELD: And growing by leaps and bounds, particularly in the last 20 years. And you heard President Hu, you know, talking, as you mentioned, about Taiwan, about human rights, about products and trade. One of the objective is to try to convince the American people, or at least this American government, to relax on some of the trade laws, to allow more American products to be available in China just as many Chinese products are available in the U.S. Is this arrangement, this meeting today, likely to forge any kind of changes in those laws?

FISHMAN: You know what it offers is a long-term blueprint for the U.S. economy to prosper in China. Whether that will come to be is an open question. You heard President Hu talk about intellectual property. This is the number one economic issue for this administration and for our country.

You know, the United States is like the OPEC of the idea economy. We control the top of the world's most innovative economy and the rest of the world wants those goods. But if we can't sell those to China, we have nothing to sell. You know, you see the trade imbalance. That's because China can send us stuff but it can take ideas freely and those ideas run factory, they control processes, they are responsible for the building of world class brands and in China we don't get paid for that.

WHITFIELD: So why is it that some American commerce is available more readily than others? If General Motors is able to produce vehicles and it being a number one manufacturer of cars in China and Wal-Mart is able to make plans to open up a store and the Chinese embrace some of that and not others, what's the explanation?

FISHMAN: You know, one explanation is the contours of the American economy where the top is controlled by large, very deep pocketed, multi-national corporations who have the patience to get into China and spend a decade building roads into that economy. Most of American business, 80 percent of manufacturing, is medium and small-sized businesses which don't have the power to lobby in China, lawyer in China, build those social relationships over decades. And for them, China's willingness to take technology and intellectual property and processes acts as a trade barrier because companies from America will not go into China if they feel their products will be stolen into that market, but big companies can play a waiting game and wait until thing goes their way and they have the political connections to play well.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ted Fishman, thank you so much. Author of "China Inc." Appreciate it.

FISHMAN: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Now if the products that we mentioned doesn't seem convincing enough, here's something else you might want to think about. Later this hour, China's military buildup and what that might mean to the U.S.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My boy!

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WHITFIELD: Homecoming hugs and kisses. Members of a national guard unit are back from Iraq. CNN takes you to the reunion right after this.

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