25 October 2002
U.S. and China Want Peaceful Resolution to North Korea's Nuclear Threat
(Bush, Chinese President Jiang Zemin confer, meet press in Texas)
(2350)
The United States and China are in agreement on the need to seek a
peaceful end to North Korea's nuclear weapons program, according to
President Bush.
Speaking with reporters at his home in Crawford, Texas, after a
meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin October 25, Bush said
Beijing and Washington would work together for a nuclear weapons-free
Korean peninsula.
Bush and Jiang held their meeting in Texas before the two leaders
travel to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting
in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Bush said both the United States and China would work for a peaceful
resolution to the issue.
On Iraq, Bush said China agrees with the United States that Iraq must
live up to its obligations under current United Nations Security
Council resolutions.
Bush reiterated U.S. policy that there must be consequences for the
Baghdad regime of dictator Saddam Hussein if Iraq doesn't fulfill its
obligations to give up its weapons of mass destruction.
Bush said Vice President Cheney will visit China in the spring of
2003.
The president also expressed his condolences to the family of Senator
Paul Wellstone (Democrat of Minnesota). Wellstone died in an airplane
crash earlier in the day.
Following is a transcript of the two presidents' October 25 press
conference in Crawford:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary (Crawford, Texas)
October 25, 2002
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND CHINESE PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN IN PRESS
CONFERENCE
Bush Ranch
Crawford, Texas
PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to welcome the President of China to our ranch,
and to Texas.
I want to start off by saying how sad Laura and I are about the sudden
and tragic death of United States Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife,
and one of his children, as well as the death of others on that
private airplane. Our prayers and heart-felt sympathy goes to their
sons, their loved ones, their friends, and the people of Minnesota.
Paul Wellstone was a man of deep convictions, a plain-spoken fellow
who did his best for his state and for his country. May the good Lord
bless those who grieve.
This is the third meeting of the President and me, and our personal
relations and the relations between our two countries are strong.
In our meeting, we discussed the threat posed by the Iraqi regime.
China supports Iraq's strict compliance with U.N. Security Council
resolutions. And today we discussed, and I urged President Jiang, to
support a new Security Council resolution demanding Iraq fully disarm
itself of weapons of mass destruction.
The President and I also discussed and expressed concern about the
acknowledgment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea of a
program to enrich uranium. We agreed that peace and stability in
Northeast Asia must be maintained. Both sides will continue to work
towards a nuclear-weapons-free Korean Peninsula and a peaceful
resolution of this issue.
The United States and China are also allies in the fight against
global terror and our two countries are deepening our economic
relations. It is inevitable that nations the size of the United States
and China will have differences, but the President and I agree that we
need to resolve our differences through mutual understanding and
respect.
On human rights, I emphasized that no nation's efforts to
counterterrorism should be used to justify suppressing minorities or
silencing peaceful dissent. I shared with the President my views on
the importance of China freeing prisoners of conscience, giving fair
treatment to peoples of faith, and preserving the rights of Hong Kong
citizens.
I also spoke of the importance of respecting human rights in Tibet and
encouraged more dialogue with Tibetan leaders.
On proliferation, I expressed our continuing concerns about transfers
of subsidy technologies. On Taiwan, I emphasized to the President that
our one China policy, based on the three communiques in the Taiwan
Relations Act, remains unchanged. I stressed the need for dialogue
between China and Taiwan that leads to a peaceful resolution of their
differences.
The United States seeks and is building a relationship with China that
is candid, constructive and cooperative. We will continue building
this relationship through contacts at many levels in months to come,
including a new dialogue on security issues.
I'm pleased to announce that Vice President Cheney will visit China
next spring. The United States and China believe that a strong
relationship between our nations will help to build a more peaceful
world.
Thank you for coming, President Jiang.
PRESIDENT JIANG: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. I just learned
that one plane crashed. I would like to express my deep condolences
for the loss of the Senate. And also I would like to express my
condolences to the bereaved family.
I'm very pleased to visit President Bush at his ranch. I would like to
thank President Bush and Mrs. Bush for the warm hospitality accorded
to us. President Bush and I had a very good conversation. We exchanged
views on some important issues of mutual interest. The meeting has
been constructive and productive.
We all agree that China and the U.S. are two great nations sharing
extensive and important common interests. The two sides should
increase exchanges and cooperation in economic, trade, cultural,
educational and other fields. We should step-up dialogue and
coordination on major international and regional issues, and
constantly move our constructive and cooperative relationship forward.
We are satisfied with our counterterrorism cooperation of the past
year. We agreed to strengthen such cooperation in a two-way and
mutually beneficial manner, and work together against terrorism in all
forms and manifestations.
We have had a frank exchange of views on the Taiwan question, which is
of concern to the Chinese side. I have elaborated my government's
basic policy of peaceful unification and one country, two systems, for
the settlements of the Taiwan question. President Bush has reiterated
his clear-cut position, that the U.S. government abides by the one
China policy.
We did, indeed, discuss the nuclear issue concerning DPRK. I point out
that China has all along been supporter of a nuclear-free Korean
Peninsula and wants peace and stability there. I agreed with President
Bush that we will continue to consult on this issue and work together
to ensure a peaceful resolution of the problem.
We have also discussed human rights, religion and other issues. I told
President Bush that democracy and human rights are the common pursuits
of mankind and that China's human rights situation is at its best
time, characterized by constant improvement. Regarding our differences
in these areas, the Chinese side stands ready to continue exchanging
views with the U.S. side on basis of mutual respect and seeking common
ground while shelving differences, with a view to deepening
understanding and enhancing consensus.
I'm confident that, so long as the two sides persist in viewing and
handling their relations from a strategic height and with a long-term
perspective and keep expanding cooperation and enhancing mutual trust,
China-U.S. relations will be able to grow steadily and bring benefits
to both peoples. Thank you.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Mr. President.
I told the President that we would -- asked him if we could take some
questions. He said, sure. There will be two questions from each side.
And I promised him I would do my very best to make sure that the
questioners would only ask one question, if you know what I mean, Mr.
Fournier. (Laughter.)
President Jiang said he remembered a couple of the American reporters
were quick to break the one-question rule, and he asked if a fellow,
Fournier, would be there. And I said, well, surely he won't do it this
time.
Mr. Fournier. (Laughter.)
Q: I understand that means I can ask each President one question?
(Laughter.)
PRESIDENT BUSH: That's exactly the problem. (Laughter.)
Q: I'll be glad to -- I'll be glad to -- your question, President
Bush, is, are you willing to negotiate with North Korea, while North
Korea maintains a nuclear weapons program?
And President Jiang, could you tell us, do you think North Korea's
nuclear weapons program is a threat to your country and, if so, how do
you plan to stop it?
PRESIDENT BUSH: See, I told you he wouldn't abide by the one-question
rule. (Laughter.)
Our first step, to make sure we resolve this peacefully, is to work
with our friends, is to remind our friends of the dangers of a nuclear
regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Jiang made it clear that
China, like the United States, believes in a Korean Peninsula without
nuclear weapons.
This is a chance for the United States and China to work very closely
together to achieve that vision of a nuclear free --
nuclear-weapons-free peninsula. And so I've instructed Secretary
Powell to work very closely with his counterpart, as well as with
their counterparts in South Korea and Japan and Russia to come up with
a common strategy to convince Kim Chong-il to disarm, and we look
forward to working to that end.
And so to complete our -- the important dialogue of developing a
strategy that will hold North Korea to account in terms of disarming,
I'm going to be visiting with the Prime Minister of Japan and the
leader of South Korea tomorrow in Mexico.
PRESIDENT JIANG: I can answer your question in the most clear-cut
terms and most definitely that we Chinese always hold the position
that the Korean Peninsula should be nuclear weapon free. We are
completely in the dark, as for the recent development. But, today,
President Bush and I agreed that the problem should be resolved
peacefully.
Thank you.
Q: My first question is for President Jiang. This is your third
meeting with President Bush. How do you evaluate China-U.S. relations
in the past year, and how do you envisage the future of the
relationship?
And also a question for President Bush.
PRESIDENT BUSH: It's an international problem. (Laughter.)
Q: Just now you said that the United States supports a one China
policy. What concrete step would you take to translate this commitment
into reality?
PRESIDENT JIANG: In the past year, China and the United States have
expanded their cooperation and enhanced mutual understanding and
trust. On the whole, the relationship has enjoyed a good momentum of
growth. Facts have proven once again that, despite the profound
changes in the international situation, and despite the differences of
one type or another between China and the U.S., our two countries have
more, rather than less, common interest. And the prospect of
cooperation between us has become broader, rather than narrower.
PRESIDENT BUSH: In terms of your question about the one China policy
-- one China policy means that the issue ought to be resolved
peacefully. We've got influence with some in the region; we intend to
make sure that the issue is resolved peacefully -- and that includes
making it clear that we do not support independence.
Holland.
Q: Sir, do you feel like you've got China's support for a new
resolution on Iraq? And are you willing to make any more concessions
in the language of a U.N. resolution, now that Russia and France have
offered a watered-down resolution?
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for asking one question. (Laughter.) Now I'll
try to answer it.
I made it clear to the President of China that I am interested in
seeing to it that the United Nations is effective
-- effective in disarming Saddam Hussein. That's what the United
Nations has said for 11 years, that Saddam ought to disarm. And,
therefore, any resolution that evolves must be one which does the job
of holding Saddam Hussein to account. That includes a rigorous, new
and vibrant inspections regime, the purpose of which is disarmament,
not inspections for the sake of inspections.
And any resolution which will be effective must have -- there must be
consequences. Let me put it bluntly: there must be consequences in
order to be effective. And, therefore, in order for there to be
consequences, we won't accept a resolution which prevents us from
doing exactly what I have told the American people is going to happen.
That is, if the U.N. won't act and if Saddam won't disarm, we will
lead a coalition to disarm him. And we're working with all countries,
particularly those on the Perm 5, to do just that.
And that's what we'll accept, something that will enable us to do
precisely what I have just described, and what I describe almost every
day that I'm out there talking to the American people.
You tried to violate the rule, but I'm not going to let you.
Q: For some time, certain people inside the United States call for
containment against China. These people believe that a rising China
poses a growing threat to the United States. What is your comment?
PRESIDENT JIANG: Given their different national conditions, it is only
natural for China and the United States to disagree from time to time.
Such a disagreement should be viewed and handled with a broad
perspective. China has chosen a development path suited to its
national conditions. It has enjoyed a rapid progress in economic
growth, cultural development and the building of democracy and rule of
law, bringing tangible benefits to the Chinese people. Their quality
of life and standard of living are improving.
As the biggest developing country in the world, this road is still
very long before China achieves full modernization; our central task
and long-term goal remain one of economic development and improvement
of people's living standards.
The Chinese people have a tradition of peace loving. China has never
engaged in expansion nor sought hegemony. We sincerely desire peace
all over the world. Even when China becomes more developed in the
future, it will not pose a threat to others. Threats have and will
continue to prove that China is a staunch force for the maintenance of
world and regional peace.
Thank you.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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