Led by China and Japan, Asian nations congratulated George Bush yesterday after he finally emerged as winner of the US presidential election, amid speculation the republican leader would adopt a less amicable line than his predecessor.
Within hours of Democrat Al Gore throwing in the towel on the closely fought contest, heads of state were queuing up to offer their congratulations to his rival. Beijing and Tokyo swiftly pledged to work with Bush to boost their sometimes rocky relations with the world's only superpower.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) offered "warm congratulations" to Bush, although the prospect of a Bush presidency has caused concern in Beijing because of his support for Taiwan.
"I'm willing to make joint efforts with you during your presidency, on the basis of the Three Joint Communiques, to push the Sino-US relationship to develop steadily and smoothly," Jiang said in message to Bush, Chinese television reported.
Bush's father, former President George Bush, was the top US envoy to Beijing in the late 1970s and is regarded as a good friend of China.
But official Chinese publications have made clear that Beijing leaders have mixed feelings about the president-elect and his supporters in the right wing of the Republican Party who are pressing for stronger ties with Taiwan.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said that his country wanted to cooperate with Bush to strengthen the alliance between the world's two largest economic powers.
Mori said he wanted to visit the US as soon as Bush is inaugurated into office.
"It's important that I meet him as soon as possible after he takes office," he said.
Japanese leaders in particular welcomed the importance that Bush attaches to the US-Japan alliance, which Foreign Minister Yohei Kono called the "cornerstone of peace and stability" in the Asia-Pacific region.
"We are encouraged that president-elect Bush has stressed the significance of strengthening the Japan-US alliance during his campaign," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Bush could count on Australia's commitment to working together.
"No country could be more genuine than Australia in its desire that the United States continue to flourish under your presidency," Howard said in a letter to Bush.
Howard's conservative coalition government had made no secret of its preference for Bush over Gore.
South Korea's foreign ministry expressed hopes the president-elect will continue to support its peace drive on the Korean peninsula, where thousands of US troops are deployed.
"Our government hopes the next US administration will keep contributing significantly to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, the Asia-Pacific region and the world," the ministry said.
Pakistan also congratulated Bush and said it looked forward to working with the new administration for peace in South Asia.
Pakistan has worried about growing US interest in India since the Cold War ended a decade ago. During Washington's confrontation with Moscow, Pakistan was a close US ally and India had warm ties with the Soviet Union.
RSS