*EPF301 07/11/01
White House Report, July 11: Hong Kong; U.S. Ambassadors
(Fleischer briefed press early morning and afternoon) (410)

BUSH TO MEET WITH HONG KONG'S CHIEF EXECUTIVE

President Bush was to meet late in the afternoon of July 11 at the White House with the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters at his early afternoon briefing.

"There will be a meeting later this afternoon and we'll have a readout following that meeting, but the President has invited Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to meet with him today. The visit is an opportunity for the two leaders to reaffirm the friendship and close ties between the United States and Hong Kong. The President recognizes that Hong Kong's civil liberties and rule of law make Hong Kong a model of success and stability, and the President is looking forward to listening and hearing from Chief Executive Tung," said Fleischer.

Earlier in the day, Tung met at the State Department with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Powell told reporters that they had "talked about human rights issues in general terms."

The Secretary of State said he "made the point clearly to him that in our relations with China we would always raise human rights issues with respect to individuals and movements that are trying to enjoy free expression and any constraints on that free expression. He understood my point. He gave me the position of their government. But these issues were raised and discussed."

BUSH PLEASED BY SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE ACTION

Fleischer, at his morning and afternoon briefings, noted that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee July 10 had approved the President's nominations of 16 important diplomatic positions, including the U.S. Ambassadors for Great Britain, France, Russia, China, Egypt, Israel, India and Pakistan.

"The President is thankful to the Foreign Relations Committee for their action on this large number of diplomats to fill their important posts," said Fleischer. "He calls on the Senate to continue to make progress on the nominations by bringing these votes to the floor as well, but he is pleased with the action by the Foreign Relations Committee."

Fleischer also announced that President Bush intends to nominate William D. Montgomery as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Clifford G. Bond as Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Robert Royall as Ambassador to Tanzania.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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