BEIJING — Walk into the exhibit hall at Beijing’s Cultural Palace of Minorities and there is George W. Bush, larger than life on a 15-foot- high video screen, praising China’s growth.
Bush might be leaving office with record-high disapproval rates at home and elsewhere, but he has fans in China. He is in a dozen flattering photographs on display at an exhibit in Beijing marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and China.
Contemplating his imminent departure, many Chinese are openly expressing affection toward the man they call Xiao Bush, or “Young Bush,” to distinguish him from his father.
“Bush made some mistakes in foreign policy, especially with Iraq, but for the Chinese, he had been a true friend,” said Mao Baoshu, a retired nuclear specialist visiting the exhibit Tuesday.
Many Chinese credit the Bush administration’s free-trade policies with helping the Chinese economy to blossom. They appreciate the administration’s efforts to rein in the anti-Beijing rhetoric of former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian. And Bush’s presence at the opening ceremony of last summer’s Olympics at a time when many world leaders were urging a boycott over China’s human-rights record is viewed with deep gratitude.
China’s appreciation for Bush is part of an unlikely romance between the Republican Party and the Chinese Communist Party that dates to President Richard Nixon’s historic visit in 1972. Nixon and Henry Kissinger, who as national security adviser set up the China trip the year before, also are celebrated in the exhibit, which opened Monday.
