Hu says China needs to improve human rights record
Chinese President Hu Jintao admitted that China must improve its human rights record at a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama. On the second day of Hu's visit to Washington, the two smoothed over some of their differences by vowing to build trust.
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Hu acknowledged on Wednesday that "a lot needs to be done” on freedoms in China.
"History shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful and the world is more just when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all people are upheld," he said.
But he added that “national circumstances” were different in China.
Obama said that both he and Hu wanted North Korea to halt "further provocations," and agreed that total denuclearisation of the peninsula was the "paramount goal".
On Thursday, the second of the three day visit, Hu will meet members of the US Congress, which has often been critical of China’s rights record and economic policy.
The visiting Chinese leader was to sit down separately with Republican House Speaker John Boehner, the third-ranking US elected official, and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The rate of China's yuan currency or access to Chinese markets are expected to be the main sticking points of talks with the Chinese leader.
On Tuesday, Reid raised eyebrows when he said Hu was "a dictator" during an interview at his home.
"I am going to back to Washington and meet with the president of China. He is a dictator. He can do a lot of things through the form of government they have," Reid told KSNV television.
He later withdrew the remark.
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