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CNN Live At Daybreak

Bush Seeks Support as He Travels To China for Economic Summit

Aired October 17, 2001 - 07:33   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.
ZAHN: President Bush leaves today on his first trip since the September 11th terrorist attacks. The President heads to Shanghai for an economic summit with Asian-Pacific leaders.

And, as CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King reports, he will be trying to get support for the campaign to target terrorism.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The President's time in Shanghai will dominated by the war on terrorism, and the important role for Asia as the campaign expands.

LEE HAMILTON, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: Terrorism now becomes the lynchpin of American foreign policy. Suddenly, quickly, our whole foreign policy now turns around a different axis - terrorism, not other matters.

KING: The 21 members of the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation forum include several countries with active terrorist networks the United States says has ties to Osama bin Laden.

DANA DILLON, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: It's an opportunity to go in and find out, or to shift the war focus from Afghanistan to finishing off the terrorists inside Southeast Asia and other countries in Asia, although Southeast Asia is really the second front for this war.

KING: The Abu Sayyaf network is based in the Philippines, where the government is working closely with the Bush White House.

Anti-American protests are now a staple in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

U.S. frustration with President Megawati turned to anger this week, as she criticized the U.S. strikes on Afghanistan.

Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are viewed as key players in the effort to find and freeze the assets of terrorist groups - Russia and China important voices as the campaign expands beyond Afghanistan.

DILLON: We have to talk to these countries. We have to understand that they have different priorities than we have. But nonetheless, we still have to be very firm and say, we are fighting the terrorists. We're going to fight them wherever we find them, and we want you with us. KING: The Shanghai gathering will produce a strong condemnation of terrorism, and new promises of help in the financial crackdown.

(on camera): Terrorism will be the overwhelming focus of the president's trip, but the economy will be more than an afterthought. The slowdown in Asia is contributing to the slowdown here in the United States, and vice versa, so the leaders will look for ways to work together, if possible, to give the global economy a boost.

John King, CNN, the White House.

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