Oregonian article (8/19/07) "Portland hosts China's Envoy" by Richard Read:
China's envoy to the United States won't duck challenging questions during a rare, three-day Portland visit beginning today, according to his aides.
Aside from fielding such perennial issues as the trade deficit and human rights, they say Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong will be ready to confront the main China topic on Americans' minds: product recalls.
"It's unfair to just blame China for that," said Tong Defa, China's consul in San Francisco, referring to the recent recalls of toys and other Chinese-made products. "The ambassador will touch this issue."
Despite various irritants in U.S.-Chinese relations, Zhou arrives during an era of relative bilateral calm, taking the chance to burnish China's image in a largely friendly U.S. region. Oregon and Washington -- which he'll also visit, spending Wednesday in Seattle -- are big exporters to China. Chinese cultural ties are burgeoning in the Pacific Northwest.....(more)
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