US President George W. Bush has cut stops in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing from his trip to Asia next month but will attend the Oct. 20 and Oct. 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shanghai, the White House said Tuesday.
"These visits will be rescheduled when circumstances permit," Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a statement two weeks to the day after terror strikes on New York and Washington left some 7,000 people dead or missing.
PHOTO: AP
Bush has since been consumed by efforts to retaliate against Osama bin Laden, whom he blames for the worst attacks ever on US soil, pushing aside for now his domestic agenda and key foreign policy priorities.
The US president, who has declared "war" on global terrorism, has deployed troops to within striking distance of Afghanistan and warned its ruling Taliban militia to turn over bin Laden or face the US' wrath.
Bush, who has not traveled to Asia since taking office Jan. 20, has worked overtime to rally a global coalition behind his effort to stamp out terrorism worldwide.
To that end, he telephoned Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
He called Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Sept. 13, and spoke to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on the Sept. 19.
He was to meet with Jiang and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC forum.
For its part, China said yesterday that it understood why Bush had cut short his schedule following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
"China understands US President George W. Bush's postponing his scheduled visit to the three Asian countries of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea because of the current situation," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao (
Bush's visit to Beijing had been billed as an opportunity to relaunch relations between his administration and the Chinese leadership, which have been fraught with tension.
Successive rows have erupted over a US reconnaissance plane downed in China, human rights, Taiwan and Bush's contentious plans for missile defense, which Beijing opposes.
The news came hours after Bush met at the White House with Koizumi, who pledged support for the US-led war on global terrorism.
"The mission is to root out terrorists, to find them and bring them to justice," Bush said following what he called a "great discussion" with Koizumi.
"One way to do that is to ask for the cooperation of citizens within Afghanistan who may be tired of having the Taliban in place or tired of having Osama bin Laden ... in their own land willing to finance this repressive government," said the US president.
Bush, who has strived to build a personal friendship with Koizumi, said he was "really pleased and honored" the prime minister had traveled from Japan to express "solidarity with the American people in our joint battle against terrorism."
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