Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration American opposition to the government of Myanmar at the time. Relations with India improved significantly during George W. Bush's tenure. In September 2001, President Bush removed sanctions which had been imposed in May 1998, after the Pokhran-II nuclear tests. Both his Indian contemporaries, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Manmohan Singh visited the United States at various times. President Bush called Chinese President Hu Jintao March 26, 2008 to express his concern about China's crackdown on protesters in Tibet since March 10, 2008. Bush and Hu also discussed issues including Taiwan, North Korea's denuclearization and Myanmar. Relations with New Zealand under the
Hu Jintao Hu effectively the number-one figure in the vast, restive region. A number of Tibetans have long been opposed to government policy in the region. Unrest and ethnic conflict were brewing, particularly anti-Han sentiments among segments of ethnic Tibetan society. Minor clashes had been occurring since 1987, and when the scale of unrest grew, Hu responded with the deployment of some 1,700 People's Armed Police into Lhasa in February 1989 in an attempt to warn against further disturbance. Increased clashes culminated in serious rioting in Lhasa's core on 5 March 1989, five days before the 30th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan