Bush sings a different song sheet to China

Standing outside the Gangwashi protestant church at 8am, flanked by a choir in red and white silk robes, and with his arm flung around the small frame of Reverend Du Fengying, the female pastor, President George W. Bush finally looked among friends.

As he smiled at the choir bursting into song behind him, he advised the Chinese leadership: "A healthy society is one that gives people a chance to express themselves through worship of the Almighty."

The call for religious freedom is a natural one for Bush, an earnest evangelical, with a critical constituency of evangelical supporters who have been pressing him to highlight human rights on his trip to China.

Even so, his advocacy for political and religious reforms has so far fallen on fallow ground. More human rights activists were detained under house arrest ahead of his trip.

Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, admitted: "We've certainly not seen the progress that we would expect. Obviously this is a long conversation and a long haul. It is not a system that is going to change overnight."

In other policy areas too, efforts by US officials to press America's case have appeared to fall flat. That seemed evident from the low-energy, withdrawn body language of the press conference in the Great Hall of the People's Republic, where both leaders made joint statements.

President Hu Jintao's remarks took up three-and-a-half pages of text. Bush's comments on the talks filled just one page.

US officials stressed that there had been progress on intellectual property rights, where there seemed to be more activity to root out fraud.

They also highlighted the increasingly complex relationship, which covers a web of priorities, from needing to keep pressure on China in the North Korea nuclear talks, to keeping Beijing on side or least abstaining in any potential decision to refer Iran to the UN Security Council.

Both issues were discussed. Yet there was little concrete progress on the economic agenda, such as trade and currency.

Hu referred to frictions and problems that might arise in this rapid development of two-way trade, while on revaluation he pledged unswervingly to press ahead with currency reform but he offered no timetable.

A US official later explained that a Chinese leader in a room with some of his best friends, and 20 people taking notes, would not talk about the timing of a currency move.

Yet the official suggested that at least there was an improved tone compared with the meeting of the two leaders in New York, when the Chinese gave "a whole lot of nothing" in the remarks.

In spite of the formal declarations of the importance of the US-China alliance, the word "candid" has perhaps proved a more accurate description than "cooperative".

In one jet-lagged summation, Bush said: "We do agree we should discuss our differences and our likenesses in a cordial manner."

As Bush prepares to head to his bed at the St Regis Hotel, he may take heart for the future of China relations from the sermon at the church Sunday morning love is to persevere.

Usually that is translated into "endure" and "forbear". The positive meaning is not to endure passively but to persevere under difficult circumstances.

He certainly has his share of the latter. After briefing reporters on his meetings, he tried to leave the hotel room. The door was locked. He struggled several times with the handle, before giving up with a shrug. That may yet serve as a metaphor for his trip to China.