Bush Chides China for Human Rights Abuses

President George W. Bush criticizes the Chinese regimes human rights record in a speech from the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok on August 7, 2008. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Before heading Beijing, President Bush rebuked China for its human rights record in a speech he gave in Thailand during his last trip to Asia as a President on August 7.

“I have spoken clearly, candidly, and consistently with China’s leaders about our deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights,” said Bush. ”I have spoken clearly, candidly, and consistently with China’s leaders about our deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights.”

President Bush said that he has met repeatedly with Chinese dissidents and religious believers. “The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings,” he said.

“So America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents, human rights advocates, and religious activists. We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly, and labor rights not to antagonize China’s leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential,” he added.

“And we press for openness and justice not to impose our beliefs, but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs,” he said.

Bush said he was optimistic about China’s future. “Young people who grow up with freedom to trade goods, will ultimately demand the freedom to trade ideas, especially on an unrestricted Internet,” he said.

Bush believes that a change in China will arrive, “And it will be clear for all to see that those who aspire to speak their conscience and worship their God are no threat to the future of China. They are the people who will make China a great nation in the 21st century.”

“Change in China will arrive on its own terms and in keeping with its own history and traditions,” said Bush, ”yet change will arrive. And it will be clear for all to see that those who aspire to speak their conscience and worship their God are no threat to the future of China. They are the people who will make China a great nation in the 21st century.”

Recently, Chinese democracy advocate Wei Jingsheng spoke with The Epoch Times after a meeting with President Bush, and said that the President told Chinese dissidents to “rest assured” that he would use “every chance,” including at gatherings and with the media, to speak about Chinese political prisoners and the limits on religious freedom in China.