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CNN Live Event/Special

America Strikes Back: Economic Summit Addresses Terrorism

Aired October 19, 2001 - 06:16   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: With the war on terror, the primary focus of President Bush's trip to the APEC Summit has switched from economics to coalition building.

Our Senior White House Correspondent, John King, is with the president in Shanghai, China, and has the latest on diplomatic efforts under way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush said Washington and Beijing stand side by side in the war on terrorism, but President Jiang made clear China support is not unconditional.

JIANG ZEMIN, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): We hope that anti-terrorism efforts can have clearly defined targets, and efforts should hit accurately and also avoid innocent casualties. But there is more, the role of the United Nations should be brought into full play.

KING: It was the first meeting of the two presidents, and Mr. Bush called it cordial and productive.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: I spent some time explaining to the president of my determination to bring people to justice that murdered our citizens.

KING: Both sides say U.S.-China relations are warming after a tense beginning, and that the two nations are sharing intelligence on terrorist groups, but obvious frictions remain. Mr. Bush raised concerns about a Chinese crackdown on Muslim separatists.

BUSH: We've had a very broad discussion, including the fact that the war on terrorism must never be an excuse to persecute minorities.

KING: And it is clear President Jiang still takes offense at a Bush promise to do whatever it takes to defend Taiwan.

JIANG (through translator): And so long as the problems between us, especially the problem of Taiwan, the question of Taiwan, is properly addressed, then there will be a bright future of our relationship. KING: President Jiang called the anthrax scare in the United States a wake-up call for the world to do more to combat bioterrorism, a point echoed by South Korea's president in his meeting with Mr. Bush.

At that session, the president sharply criticized Afghanistan's ruling Taliban for interfering with humanitarian relief efforts.

BUSH: The Taliban government is seizing food. The Taliban government refuses to allow for an efficient distribution of aid that has been assembled to help the Afghan people.

KING: Indonesia's president, Megawati, has criticized the U.S. military response, and others attending the weekend Asia Pacific Economic Summit want the strikes to end soon.

(on camera): But Mr. Bush characterized support for the U.S.-led campaign as -- quote -- "near unanimous, " and said he expected the 21-member Asian-Pacific Summit to not only issue a strong a statement condemning terrorism, but to promise to work with the United States in cracking down on financial support for terrorist groups.

John King, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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