China's No. 2 man impresses Honolulu
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The man expected to be China's next leader dazzled Hawai'i officials in a 24-hour visit, and called for a U.S.-Chinese friendship that would "last forever," before departing yesterday morning for New York City and Washington and a chat with President Bush.
Associated Press
It was Vice President Hu Jintao's first official visit to the United States, and before it was over he doffed his dark business suit in favor of an aloha shirt, greeted guests at a luncheon banquet with a rousing "aloha," and enjoyed Hawaiian entertainment.
Gov. Ben Cayetano shares a toast with Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao on Saturday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on the Chinese leader's first official visit to the United States. Behind them is Wei-Wei Ojiri of the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau.
But it was not all flower lei and hula for Hu, as a handful of demonstrators representing Taiwan and another group speaking for the outlawed physical culture group Falun Gong competed for his attention with China supporters lined up outside the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Saturday.
Hu said his first visit to the United States was aimed at "strengthening the high-level contact between China and the United States, enhancing mutual understanding and pushing forward the Sino-U.S. cooperative relationship."
Hu was greeted Saturday by Gov. Ben Cayetano, Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris and Adm. Dennis C. Blair, commander of the U.S. Pacific forces, who later took the vice president to the Arizona Memorial for a wreath-laying ceremony. Hu is expected to replace President Jiang Zemin as Communist Party chief this year and as China's president next spring.
Hu applauded as girls from a Honolulu children's hula halau danced past his table at a banquet Saturday.
He then gave a toast paying tribute to Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the 1911 revolution that ended imperial rule, who is revered in Taiwan and mainland China.
"The people of Hawai'i gave Sun Yat-sen valuable support which China will never forget," he said.
"Hawai'i, a brilliant pearl on the Pacific Ocean, is a bridge linking the East and West culture," he said, a point applauded by Charles Morrison, head of the East-West Center.
Tony Vericella, president and chief executive officer of the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau, said he hoped the Air China 747 carrying Hu and his entourage would help usher in regular direct flights.
Walter Chang, president of the Honolulu Chapter of the U.S. China People's Friendship Association, said Hu had spoken proudly of a 7 percent expansion of the gross national product in China last year, saying the events of Sept. 11 had little effect on economic activity there.
Correction: The East-West Center is not a part of the University of Hawai'i. A previou version of this story contained incorrect information.
