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APEC Leaders Make Full Use of Shanghai Gathering for Diplomacy
Leaders from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies were making full use of their gathering on Saturday as at least 21 bilateral meetings were scheduled for the day.U.S. President George W. Bush U.S. President George W. Bush had bilateral meetings on Saturday morning separately with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (Click Here), trying to obtain understanding and support for the U.S. war on terrorism.
In his talks with Mahathir, Bush assured that he is trying to avoid civilian casualties in the U.S. military campaign against the Afghan Taliban forces, a major concern repeatedly expressed by Malaysia.
Mahathir said the more effective way to fight terrorism is to eliminate the root cause of the issue on hand other than attack on what he called innocent country, an apparent reference to Afghanistan, which has been under fierce U.S. air raids for almost two weeks now.
The United States is punishing the Taliban for its refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, who is accused by Washington of masterminding the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Besides the issue of terrorism, Bush and Mahathir also discussed the regional situations, including that of the Middle East. Mahathir urged Bush to work for an quick end the violence and bring peace to both Israelis and the Palestinians.
Bush said that his country is doing so.
Among other issues, terrorism was also a subject for discussion when Bush met Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who praised Bush for his "strong leadership to fight terrorism."
A meeting was also scheduled between Peru's President Alejandro Toledo and Bush, who was expected to meet with Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at 7:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) on Saturday. Russian President Vladimir Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin was not competing with Bush by having only two bilateral meetings for the day -- one with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the other with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
Putin and Mahathir, in their talks, exchanged views on bilateral economic relations, cooperation in military technology, the regional situation, international stability and security, with the focus on the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East, said Aleksei Gromov, press secretary to the Russian president.
Mahathir told Putin that he will carry out his Russia visit early next year, which was postponed after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Putin and Chretien found they have identical views on the fight against terrorism after their half-hour meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters afterwards that Putin and Chretien agreed to make efforts to turn Afghanistan into a country which will be able to develop in peace.
Chretien promised Putin that his visit to Russia in February 2002 will be joined by a large group of Canadian business leaders.Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Besides bilateral talks with Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had a second meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung within a week, discussed the issue of terrorism and vowed to improve ties between their countries.
The South Korean-Japanese relations have been marred by Japan's publication and approval of revised history books and Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism, which caused great sufferings for the Korean people and the people of other neighboring countries of Japan before and during World War II.
Earlier this week, during his visit to South Korea, Koizumi said he sincerely regrets and apologizes for the sufferings his country inflicted on the Korea peninsula during Japanese colonial rule in 1910-1945.President of Mexico Vicente Fox Vicente Fox, president of Mexico, the 2002 host of the 10th informal meeting of APEC economic leaders, met and talked with Canada's Jean Chretien, Singapore's Goh Chok Tong, and Peru's Alejandro Toledo.
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