US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) declared themselves partners in the war on terrorism yesterday, although Jiang cautioned that US airstrikes on Afghanistan must be aimed at clearly defined targets to "avoid innocent casualties."
"President Jiang and the government stand side by side with the American people as we fight this evil force," Bush said after his first meeting with his Chinese counterpart.
Bush came to Shanghai at a time when the sometimes volatile Sino-American relations are on the upswing, but both leaders alluded in a joint news conference to lingering differences.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
"The war on terrorism must never be an excuse to persecute minorities," Bush said, an apparent reference to China's treatment of the restive Uighur population in China's northwest Xinjiang Province.
Bush said he also stressed the need "to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missile technology." On Sept. 1, the State Department imposed sanctions on a Chinese arms producer for allegedly selling missile technology to Pakistan in violation of a US-Chinese agreement signed last November.
Jiang predicted a "bright future" for US-Chinese relations so long as the US sticks to bilateral agreements on Taiwan, an issue that has bedeviled ties between Washington and Beijing, off and on, for more than 50 years.
Bush began his first full day in China in 26 years by heading in midmorning from his downtown hotel to a guest house in western Shanghai. Security was unusually tight. No other traffic was permitted along the motorcade route. Groups of pedestrians, most of them expressionless, stood along the intersections.
Bush told Jiang he was impressed by the gleaming metropolis Shanghai has become since he was here in the mid-1970s, when his father headed the US diplomatic mission. Then, Bush said, he could not have imagined "the dynamic and impressive Shanghai of 2001."
Jiang said he made clear to Bush that he is "opposed to terrorism in all of its forms."
At the same time, alluding to the US-led air strikes on Afghanistan that began Oct. 7, Jiang said China hopes "anti-terrorism efforts can have clearly defined targets. And efforts should hit accurately, and also avoid innocent casualties." Some Afghan civilians have been killed in the air campaign.
In praising China's cooperation on terrorism, Bush noted that China has shared intelligence with the US and interdicted financing of terrorist organizations.
"There was no hesitation, there was no doubt they'd stand with our people during this terrible time," he said.
Bush met with Jiang on the eve of the annual APEC summit, which is expected to approve a declaration expressing the readiness of the 21 participants to combat international terrorism.
Jiang also said the UN should play a major role in the effort to bring stability to Afghanistan -- a view fully shared by the Bush administration.
After their initial meeting, Bush and Jiang had a lunch featuring shark's fin, fried lobster, steak and four vegetables.
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