Murderer! Chinese president heckled on Bush visit


Last updated at 09:25 21 April 2006

A woman protester dramatically interrupted a speech by China's president on the White House lawn yesterday, humiliating President George Bush and American security agencies.

She yelled in Chinese at Hu Jintao, 'You are a killer and a murderer,' as Mr Bush greeted his counterpart in public.

See video footage of the protest here: Real Player


Security men were slow to move in, but eventually dragged her away in front of the world's cameras as she continued her tirade.

The woman was later identified as Dr Wang Wenyi, a pathologist based in New York.

She is a member of Falun Gong, a Chinese religious group that was banned and brutally crushed by the Beijing government in 1999.

Dr Wang had managed to obtain a position on a raised camera platform among photographers and TV cameramen, just 40ft from where the two most powerful men in the world were standing.

The leaders, who were meeting for vital talks on trade and the nuclear standoff with Iran, looked startled and alarmed at the outburst.

Mr Bush, standing next to Hu, leaned over and whispered, 'You're okay,' indicating the Chinese leader should continue with his opening remarks. Hu, who had paused briefly when the shouting began, resumed speaking.

He had been saying: "We should respect each other as equals and promote closer exchanges and cooperation."

Chinese television, which has closely covered the visit, blacked out programming across China as soon as the woman started to shout and only resumed it after she was marched away.

Announcers made no reference to the incident and carried on as if nothing had happened.

There was further embarrassment for the Americans when China's national anthem was announced as the anthem of the Republic of China - the formal name of Taiwan, which China lays claim to. China's formal name is the People's Republic of China.

In a park across the street from the White House, about 700 protesters had gathered to wave banners and shout slogans condemning China's human rights record. There were other anti-Chinese demonstrations in almost every large American city yesterday to protest the four-day visit.

Dr Wang was able to get close to the leaders by showing press credentials from the Falun Gong-affiliated newspaper The Epoch Times.

Stephen Gregory, a spokesman for the paper, said: "We expected her to act as a reporter - we didn't expect her to protest. None of us had any idea that Dr Wang was planning this."

He added that she 'probably wanted to call attention' to the sect's claim that the Chinese have engaged in human organ harvesting, an allegation the government has denied. The sect promotes rigid exercise programmes and meditation. But the government has accused Falun Gong of political plotting and declared that it is an 'evil cult' and that all its members are criminals.

Human rights groups say that tens of thousands of members are now being held in prison camps across China.

During her outburst, Dr Wang shouted: "President Bush, stop him from killing." And addressing Hu she called out: "Your time is over. Evil people will die early." She then shouted in English: "President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong."

Derek Mitchell, a former Asia adviser at the Defence Department, said: "It's hugely embarrassing. China must know that this Bush administration is good at controlling crowds for themselves, and the fact that they couldn't control this is going to play to their worst fears and suspicions about the US and into mistrust about American intentions toward China."

Mr Bush has promised to raise human rights questions during his private talks with Hu, but no breakthroughs are expected.