I'm willing to believe that China is a peaceful and even a benign force in East Asia.

But is it "work[ing] to secure the freedom of its own people"?

So says President Bush.

From his remarks to the Australian parliament ...

We are encouraged by China's cooperation in the war against terror. We are working with China to ensure the Korean peninsula is free of nuclear weapons. We see a China that is stable and prosperous, a nation that respects the peace of its neighbors and works to secure the freedom of its own people.

Isn't that laying it on a bit thick?