Chinese President Hu Jintao makes controversial visit to Britain
Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Britain at the invitation of Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has set himself on a collision course with human rights campaigners for making the invitation. Hu, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is certain to be greeted by protests from the Free Tibet and Falun Gong movements and by human rights campaigners. Blair meets Hu in his capacity of leader of both the European Union and the G-8 of industrialized countries. The breakneck speed of China’s economic and foreign export growth has the European Union and G-8 torn between fear and admiration, and both bodies are pressuring China to adjust its currency system as a way to bring prices for Chinese exports more in line with competitors. Blair is likely to pick up the theme, but Beijing repeatedly says it will only make adjustments when the economy is ready. Trade and the 16-year-old arms embargo against China are certain topics. China wants EU status as a market economy, and wants the arms embargo lifted. There has been some interest in lifting the embargo in the European Union, and the issue is expected to be picked up again at the October EU summit, but continuining pressure from the United States to keep it in place is lively to prevail.
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