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Bush Back in White House After Pacific Rim Summit
U.S. President Bush returned to the White House from China early on Monday, bearing Russia's vote of confidence for U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan and the backing of a Pacific Rim summit for his war on global terrorism.
Bush arrived at the White House shortly after midnight on Monday after attending a meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shanghai, where talk of free trade and investment was overshadowed by the U.S. leader's campaign against terrorism.
During his five-day trip, Bush secured the full backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin for U.S. coalition attacks on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. The two met for 90 minutes and also made progress on missile defense issues, including nuclear weapons reductions.
Besides the meeting with Putin, Bush held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
At the close of the forum, the APEC leaders issued a political declaration condemning the Sept. 11 attacks and vowed to find the perpetrators. The unprecedented declaration stopped short of naming chief suspect Osama bin Laden or backing the U.S. strikes.
It was Bush's first official visit to China and his first trip outside the United States since the suicide attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, outside Washington, in which some 5,400 people died.
As Bush returned to Washington, his war on terrorism entered its third week of attacks on Afghanistan. U.S. warplanes slammed targets there on Sunday, apparently taking aim at Taliban sites on the crucial northern front.
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