Chinese President Hu Jintao met today at the White House. The meeting began with a ceremonial twenty-one gun salute, but ended with arguments.

President George W. Bush failed to win a commitment from Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday on immediate steps to reduce China's huge trade surplus with the United States.

Hu did give Bush a general assurance he was working to make the Chinese currency more "flexible" but that fell far short of U.S. demands for a radical revaluation of the yuan.

The two leaders, during Oval Office talks, also failed to bridge differences over how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions. Bush wants China to agree to tougher U.N. Security Council action, but his arguments did not persuade Hu.

Speaking in the Oval Office, the two leaders said their bilateral relationship had matured and they could discuss differences openly.

Democrats said Hu offered no tangible progress on trade and that Bush was not tough enough.

'TIGER, NOT PUSSYCAT'

"America needs a tiger, not a pussycat, fighting for our American companies and American workers. President Bush must take bold action to hold China accountable for these unfair trade practices," said Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose state has been hard hit by job losses.

Excuse me, but democrats have been screaming the exact opposite for years now. I've heard for years that Bush was inconsiderate and downright mean. Make up your freaking mind democrats. That is one problem I see with Democrats, they can never stop arguing amongst each other long enough to actually accomplish anything. What's your say on China?