Hu pledges to continue co-operation with US
There, he sought to quell fears about the international effects of his country’s booming economy and pledged continued co-operation with the US.
Mr Hu, speaking before a crowd of hundreds at Yale, repeated sentiments he expressed earlier during his first US visit as president and said China is sensitive to the effects of its growth.
“We will pursue a new path to industrialisation, featuring high technology, good economic returns, low resource consumption, low environmental pollution and full use of human resources,” he said.
He answered questions from the crowd that had been submitted in advance.
Asked whether China was concerned limiting political freedom would cause social unrest that could undermine economic growth, he said China is committed to democracy.
“China’s political system suits its economic development,” Mr Hu said.
A CNN reporter was thrown out of a reception in Yale President Richard Levin’s office earlier after he shouted a question about whether Mr Hu had seen more than 1,000 protesters gathered on the city green.
Mr Hu presented four bookcases worth of books and said he wants to build on a long-standing relationship with Yale.
More than 150 years after Yale became the first US university to graduate a Chinese student, the Ivy League school has more than 80 academic collaborations with Chinese institutions and offers 26 study sites in China.
This week, China made Yale the first overseas university authorised to trade on its heavily-regulated stock market, off-limits to most foreigners.
Earlier, dozens of police officers, some carrying riot gear, prepared for protests by human rights activists and members of the spiritual movement Falun Gong, outlawed in China.
Police estimated that at least 1,000 people gathered on the city green, shouting anti-communist and anti-government slogans in Chinese.
Pro-Chinese government demonstrators held signs welcoming Mr Hu.
University officials made a rare exception and allowed protests on the historic Old Campus, a block or two from Mr Hu’s speech.
Yale freshman Edwin Everhart, 19, of North Carolina, was among the Old Campus protesters.
“I’m here because I’m against the torture, the death penalty and nuclear weapons,” said Mr Everhart, co-ordinator of Amnesty International at Yale
Mr Hu, aware of the growing US impatience with the record US trade deficit with China, offered general promises yesterday to address the gap. But his comments were unlikely to cool calls in Congress for tariffs on Chinese products.
More than 300 of Yale’s 11,000 students are Chinese, making them the largest group of foreign students at the school.
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