U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2008)

U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
February 21, 2008

1:04 p.m. EST

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QUESTION: International reaction with the satellite shootdown; have you received any, have you offered any?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not aware of any reaction we've received through diplomatic channels. I know that some states have made some comments in public. I know that the Chinese have. I checked to see what we did in the wake of the DOD announcement earlier this morning or last night and essentially, what we did is took the information that DOD had publicly put out and provided that to our embassies via our cable system. We sent out a cable. And I suspect as more information evolves in terms of confirming exactly what the results of the tests were, we're going to provide that. And if anybody has any questions, we'll answer those on a case-by-case basis.

QUESTION: Can I ask an unrelated question?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, sure.

QUESTION: A protest against China for support of Sudan, people calling the Olympics the "genocide Olympics," Steven Spielberg severing his connection.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: Is the Olympics a proper focus for protest about Chinese support for Sudan, about what's happening in Darfur?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, individuals are going to have to make their own decisions about that. You know, private citizens are going to make a decision about whether -- what platforms they use to bring attention to important issues around the world. Sudan certainly is an important issue and it's one of great concern to the United States.

The President, though, has quite clearly stated how we view the Olympics and how we view the Chinese hosting the Olympics. We have expressed our view that -- and hope that the Chinese Government will use this opportunity to put China's best face forward with respect to all variety of issues, whether that's human rights or fundamental freedoms for the people or China's economic development.

So we will encourage them to use that opportunity, but the President has also clearly stated that we view this as a sporting event and he intends to go to the opening ceremonies and to use appropriate diplomatic and political channels to have the kinds of conversations that we have been having and will continue to have with the Chinese Government about hard issues. Whether that's human rights, concerns about individual freedoms, or issues like Iran and Darfur and North Korea, we'll use -- we will -- prior to the Olympics and after the Olympics, we're going to continue to have those kinds of discussions to work on areas of mutual concern and where we -- where we can, find agreement to move forward a positive agenda that serves the interests of global prosperity and global peace. And where we have differences, try to bridge the differences and when we can't bridge those differences, you know, do so in a respectful manner.

Yes.

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(The briefing was concluded at 1:33 p.m.)