*EPF406 02/14/2002
Text: Asia Panel Chairman Warns of Governments Harboring Terrorists
(Representative Leach's February 14 opening statement) (1140)

Governments that harbor terrorists cannot be ignored, the chairman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific said at a February 14 hearing on U.S. interests in the region.

During his State of the Union address January 29, President Bush said states that seek weapons of mass destruction and harbor terrorists "pose a grave and growing danger." Bush warned that "the price of indifference" to these states "would be catastrophic."

Representative Jim Leach (Republican of Iowa) amplified Bush's remarks by emphasizing that "governments which harbor terrorists or which threaten to spread anarchy with the development of weapons of mass destruction cannot be ignored."

"It is not only reasonable but important to put the world on notice," he said. "The challenge is to do so in a way that unites our friends and incentivize potential foes to change their ways."

President Bush will be visiting Japan, South Korea, and China later this month. Leach noted that the President's visits underscore the critical importance of the Asia-Pacific region to the national interests of the United States.

Following is the text of Leach's remarks, as prepared for delivery:

(begin text)

Opening Statement
Representative James A. Leach
Chairman, Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific
U.S. Interests in East Asia and the Pacific:
Problems and Prospects in the Year of the Horse
February 14, 2002

On behalf of the Subcommittee, I would like to warmly welcome Assistant Secretary Kelly for his second appearance before the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific. As my colleagues know, Assistant Secretary Kelly has brought a consultative, thoughtful, and thoroughly professional approach to managing the East Asia Bureau at the Department of State that not only enjoys the full confidence of Capitol Hill, but is welcomed by our friends and allies in the region. We appreciate your good work and look forward to continuing a productive relationship.

President Bush's visit to Japan, South Korea, and China later this month underscores the critical and, indeed, growing importance of the Asia-Pacific region to the national interests of the United States. His stop in China is of particular significance. The President will arrive in Beijing on the 30th anniversary of President Nixon's historic journey to China, symbolizing the continuity of America's engagement with the Middle Kingdom. In addition, the inclusion of China on the President's Northeast Asia tour only five months after the APEC summit in Shanghai, suggests his strong personal commitment to strengthening the foundations of Sino-American relations.

The President's trip to the region thus presents us with a timely opportunity to review not only U.S. policy toward Northeast Asia, but the challenges and priorities of our regional diplomacy as a whole. Here I would offer just a few brief remarks.

There can be no doubt that alliance relations with Japan have been strengthened in recent months, not only by the close working relationship established between the Bush and Koizumi governments, but particularly by Japan's exceptional response to the events of September 11. America is most grateful for Japan's friendship and support. By the same token, the campaign against terrorism has evidently helped accelerate the development of a more robust Japanese security policy, one implicitly if not explicitly encouraged by the United States. While an evolving Japanese perspective on national defense is natural and thoroughly appropriate, destabilizing regional rivalries are less likely to develop if the reasons for new policy departures are clearly articulated and understood by others.

Of perhaps greater consequence for international security is the current condition of the Japanese economy and its prospects for the future. While the difficulties are well understood in Tokyo and around the world, developing effective solutions has proven enormously difficult. In this vein, one of the great challenges for the U.S. over the past decade has been to find a productive means to engage our Japanese friends on issues of economics and finance, as well as trade. The Bush administration has generally chosen the path of respectful, quiet diplomacy, an approach which has the virtue of being well received by Japan. My only comment would be to the extent that financial and structural reform is imperative, but is in danger of becoming hamstrung by protracted political gridlock, we could perhaps become a more effective agent for change by expanding our dialogue beyond elites in Tokyo and directly to the Japanese people.

Turning to the Korean peninsula and the issue of engagement with the North, my own view is that the President's remarkable State of the Union address reflected and bolstered his leadership in the face of a unique foreign policy challenge. However, one has the sense that in South Korea and possibly elsewhere in the region, certain apprehension has developed about American attitudes and use of words. Here, it should be emphasized, it is correct to make clear that governments which harbor terrorists or which threaten to spread anarchy with the development of weapons of mass destruction cannot be ignored. It is not only reasonable but important to put the world on notice. The challenge is to do so in a way that unites our friends and incentivize potential foes to change their ways. I have no doubt that the President will admirably succeed in this task by reassuring our friends and allies in Seoul that our engagement policy and strong support for intra-Korean reconciliation remain unchanged.

With respect to China, the President has an opportunity to engage Beijing in a comprehensive manner that contributes to a better understanding of our respective positions on regional security, arms control and proliferation, as well as on America's insistence on a peaceful resolution of the issue of Taiwan and our principled commitment to the advancement of human rights. If I had one general recommendation, it is that it is time for the U.S. to begin looking for ways to more positively engage the Chinese people and support the development of a more open society. Support for rule of law initiatives, enhanced academic and cultural exchange, military-to-military exchange, cooperation on HIV/AIDS, and the environment, ought to occupy a much higher place in the priorities we set for bilateral relations with a country of China's size and significance.

The Subcommittee is also interested in hearing about a number of other important issues, such as the degree to which we are receiving cooperation from our tremendous allies in Australia, our friends in New Zealand, the status of our deployment in the Philippines, the extent to which Al-Qaeda has managed to establish terrorist cells in Southeast Asia and the response of the member countries of ASEAN to that challenge, the recent Cambodian elections, as well as prospects for progressive political transition in Burma. We look forward to our testimony and the question and answer to follow.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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