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CNN Sunday Morning
Bush Holds Meetings With Chinese President, Thai Prime Minister
Aired October 19, 2003 - 07:08 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.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to Asia, where President Bush has held separate meetings with China's president and Thailand's prime minister. The prime private sessions set the stage for the APEC summit and economic conference of Asian and Pacific leaders in which money will not be the only bottom line.
CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash is traveling with the president and joins us with more from Bangkok -- Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne. And the discussions that President Bush had with the leaders of Thailand and China earlier today were about -- mostly about the issue of North Korea, at least that is what the president talked about publicly.
This, of course, is a major issue for the president and many of the leaders who will be gathering here for an economic summit that is going to start on Monday. And while meeting with the prime minister of Thailand, President Bush made clear that he has no intention of signing a non aggression pact just between the United States and North Korea, as North Korea has been asking for an order for them to disband or stop their nuclear program.
However, the president did make clear that there is something else that he might be willing to try.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not have a treaty, if that's what you're asking. That's off the table. Perhaps there are other ways we can look to say exactly what I've said publicly on paper, with our partners' consent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now what President Bush, according to senior administration officials brought up, in a two way meeting with the Chinese President Hu Jintao, that ended just a short while ago, is the idea of perhaps a written agreement, short of an actual treaty, what a senior official called an agreement with a small "a," that would be between the United States and the other parties that have been involved in six way talks with North Korea. There have been two rounds of those. Those nations are of course China, which is very important in this -- on this issue, Japan, South Korea, and Russia.
And what the White House and the administration is now floating here in Bangkok is the concept of basically an agreement between all of these nations for -- of non-aggression.
The concept for the administration is calling a new paradigm, which is to get North Korea to understand that it is not just the United States that wants them to stop their nuclear program, but it is many of the nations in the region, many of the important countries that North Korea has been talking to.
And the idea is that the Bush administration has said for some time that bilateral agreements with the U.S. and North Korea simply do not work. And they're hoping that this kind of multilateral agreement could get North Korea to perhaps start to ramp down on its nuclear program. And perhaps the Bush administration believes they would actually keep this agreement, as opposed to in the past -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Well, Dana, I know you're not getting a lot of rest, but have a good trip. That's Dana Bash out of Bangkok, Thailand.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Minister>
Aired October 19, 2003 - 07:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to Asia, where President Bush has held separate meetings with China's president and Thailand's prime minister. The prime private sessions set the stage for the APEC summit and economic conference of Asian and Pacific leaders in which money will not be the only bottom line.
CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash is traveling with the president and joins us with more from Bangkok -- Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne. And the discussions that President Bush had with the leaders of Thailand and China earlier today were about -- mostly about the issue of North Korea, at least that is what the president talked about publicly.
This, of course, is a major issue for the president and many of the leaders who will be gathering here for an economic summit that is going to start on Monday. And while meeting with the prime minister of Thailand, President Bush made clear that he has no intention of signing a non aggression pact just between the United States and North Korea, as North Korea has been asking for an order for them to disband or stop their nuclear program.
However, the president did make clear that there is something else that he might be willing to try.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not have a treaty, if that's what you're asking. That's off the table. Perhaps there are other ways we can look to say exactly what I've said publicly on paper, with our partners' consent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now what President Bush, according to senior administration officials brought up, in a two way meeting with the Chinese President Hu Jintao, that ended just a short while ago, is the idea of perhaps a written agreement, short of an actual treaty, what a senior official called an agreement with a small "a," that would be between the United States and the other parties that have been involved in six way talks with North Korea. There have been two rounds of those. Those nations are of course China, which is very important in this -- on this issue, Japan, South Korea, and Russia.
And what the White House and the administration is now floating here in Bangkok is the concept of basically an agreement between all of these nations for -- of non-aggression.
The concept for the administration is calling a new paradigm, which is to get North Korea to understand that it is not just the United States that wants them to stop their nuclear program, but it is many of the nations in the region, many of the important countries that North Korea has been talking to.
And the idea is that the Bush administration has said for some time that bilateral agreements with the U.S. and North Korea simply do not work. And they're hoping that this kind of multilateral agreement could get North Korea to perhaps start to ramp down on its nuclear program. And perhaps the Bush administration believes they would actually keep this agreement, as opposed to in the past -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Well, Dana, I know you're not getting a lot of rest, but have a good trip. That's Dana Bash out of Bangkok, Thailand.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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