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CNN Live Event/Special

Bush Arrives in Shanghai for APEC Summit

Aired October 18, 2001 - 16:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: As we have been telling you, President Bush has now arrived in Shanghai for the Asian Pacific Economic Summit. His first official event is a scheduled meeting later this evening with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

For more on the summit and how the events of September 11 have affected its agenda, here's CNN State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush arrived in Shanghai, his first overseas trips since the September 11 attacks, ready to forge a new front in the U.S.-led war against terrorism. Already leading the charge at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, Secretary of state Colin Powell, who calls himself the president's advance guard.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have a new threat against our economies, against the civilized world. And we have to respond altogether. KOPPEL: Powell and other APEC foreign ministers laid the ground work Thursday for what is expected to be a strong statement condemning terrorism to be issued later this week by the leaders of APEC's 21 member nations. Among them: Indonesia and Malaysia, two large Muslim countries support the statement but have condemned U.S.-led airstrikes in Afghanistan.

RAFIDAH AZIZ, MALAYSIAN TRADE MINISTER: Of course we are quite concerned that in those retaliatory attacks there has been loss of civilian lives. We are just mindful of what is really happening.

KOPPEL: For the Asia-Pacific community, the September 11 have not only shifted the focus of this year's meeting of APEC, a group dedicated to promoting free and open trade, it has also changed the way the United States interacts with countries like Russia and community.

POWELL: Nobody is calling us unilateral anymore. That has gone away for the time being. We are so multilateral it keeps me up 24 hours a day. KOPPEL: As the host of the 21st century's first gathering of the APEC leaders, China has made heightened security a top priority here in Shanghai. Usually a bustling port city of 16 million, this week, due to a five-day government holiday, many streets are almost deserted. Instead, 10,000 policemen are out in force. A not so subtle reminder of a new awareness of terrorism.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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