Bush and Hu are ready for another candid talk

BEIJING (AP) — Juggling sports and strife, President Bush set about tending to delicate relations with China’s leaders as troubles kept dogging his whirlwind Olympic adventure.

Bush’s meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao today comes amid persistent criticism over how China treats its own people. The U.S. president promised again to prod Hu to let people speak and pray freely without harassment. China says that is a matter it can handle without outside meddling.

Sending a signal before the talks, Bush planned to attend services at a Protestant church and speak publicly on behalf of religious freedom. China allows worship only in officially approved churches such as the one on Bush’s schedule, so millions of people gather privately to pray, avoiding detection.

Bush, who came to Beijing mainly to have fun at the Olympics, also now finds himself immersed in a conflict with China’s neighbor to the north, Russia.

A grim and blunt president upbraided Moscow over its escalating standoff with a former Soviet state, Georgia. Bush questioned attacks in parts of Georgia away from South Ossetia, the breakaway province at the center of the fight.

“The violence is endangering regional peace,” Bush said. He pushed Russia to embrace an international mediation effort by the United States and its European allies.

Bush’s day in China juxtaposed moments light and somber, sometimes jarringly so.

He took a rigorous ride on the Olympic mountain biking course, had a try at beach volleyball and laughed it up with members of the U.S. women’s softball team. The president enjoyed the sweat-soaked experience of hanging out with athletes in an unscripted way.

Later came the news that a Chinese man had stabbed the in-laws of the U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball coach, killing one and injuring the other. The assailant committed suicide by jumping from the tourist site the Americans were visiting.

Bush spoke on that topic and the rapidly changing events in Georgia. He warned of the seriousness of the military conflict and expressed sadness about the stabbing.

As scheduled, Bush then went back to rooting for his country’s team. He took off the coat and tie and headed to the basketball arena to watch the U.S. women’s team with his family.

More shifting between sports and diplomacy awaited Bush today.

After church, he planned to attend men’s and women’s swimming competitions. By afternoon, the schedule had him at the Zhongnanhai Compound, the central government complex, for meetings with Hu, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and Premier Wen Jiabao.