Inside fortress-like security, President George W. Bush opened the new U.S. embassy in Beijing and, just hours before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, seized the opportunity while standing on Chinese turf to challenge the leadership to let their people speak their minds.

Accompanied by his father, former President George H. W. Bush, who was chief of the U.S. liaison office during the critical period when Washington was preparing to renew ties with China, the President dedicated the vast new complex – the second-largest U.S. Embassy in the world.

Undeterred by Chinese irritation a day earlier at his criticisms of Beijing’s human rights record, he said: “We strongly believe societies which allow the free expression of ideas tend to be the most prosperous and the most peaceful.”

Speaking at the glass and concrete monolith in a diplomatic quarter of northeastern Beijing that cost 434 million U.S. dollars to build, he said: “Candour is most effective where nations have built a relationship of respect and trust. I've worked hard to build that respect and trust. I appreciate the Chinese leadership that have worked hard to build that respect and trust.”

He described the complex as impressive as he walked around the huge and somewhat subdued building, its stern lines relieved by an oversized technicolour tulip sculpture by U.S. artist Jeff Koons. The sculpture sits in one of the ornamental pools filling the space between the outside wall and the main building.

Architects incorporated the pools into the safety specifications now required at all American embassies - interior buildings must be at least 100 feet (30 metres) from the outside wall. The Koons sculpture can still be appreciated by passers-by through low windows in the wall - windows built to withstand a car bomb attack.

The President, later lunched with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao. The two presidential couples led more than 80 world leaders up red-carpeted stairs to a banquet hall in the Great Hall of the People where the group had lunch at huge round tables. The two leaders shook hands, exchanged warm greetings and posed for photographs.

The U.S. President said earlier the scale of the new embassy was symbolic of the relationship. "To me it speaks of the importance of our relations with China. It reflects the solid foundation underpinning our relations. It is a commitment to strengthen that foundation for years to come."

The old U.S. embassy, which will be gradually closed as diplomats move, was the scene of riots by hundreds of Chinese protesters in 1999, in a rare protest permitted in the capital after the US bombed China's embassy in Belgrade. ENDS

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