*EPF504 11/19/2004
Transcript: Bush to Hold Bilaterals with Putin, Other Foreign Leaders at APEC
(President will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin November 20) (6020)

President Bush will participate in a series of individual meetings with European, Asian and Western Hemisphere leaders on the sidelines of the 12th Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Santiago, Chile, November 20-21.

In a background briefing in Washington, senior administration officials confirmed that Bush will meet with the leaders of Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Russia and Mexico while at the APEC conference.

The White House said separately that a luncheon bilateral meeting between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled for Saturday November 20.

With only limited time available for one-on-one meetings on the fringe of the APEC forum, Bush expects to focus on efforts to promote free trade and growth and to enhance international security in the Asia-Pacific region, the officials said. Bush will stay on in Santiago November 21 for discussions with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos then travel to Cartagena, Colombia, on November 22 for a bilateral meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

With only limited time available for one-on-one meetings on the margins of the APEC forum, Bush expects to focus on efforts to promote free trade and growth and to enhance international security in the Asia-Pacific region, the officials said.

The United States is committed to trade liberalization and economic cooperation as laid out in the APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration of Common Resolve at Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994, the officials said. APEC countries represent a significant percentage of the world's productive capacity, they added, and the APEC forum has been responsible for strengthened international cooperation in many areas.

The member economies of APEC are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

Particular trade and security issues will be addressed in more depth at the bilateral meetings with the Chilean and Colombian presidents. According to the officials, President Bush will discuss the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) initiative, which seeks to create a free trade zone from Alaska to Argentina. While in Cartagena, Bush will also review progress on "Plan Colombia," an integrated strategy to combat narcotics trafficking, revive the Colombian economy, and strengthen Colombian democratic institutions.

The officials said the administration does not expect formal bilateral initiatives to result from these meetings, stressing that APEC will be the central focus of the president's trip. Nonetheless, they acknowledged that the discussions will touch on a broad range of continuing concerns.

In his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the officials said, Bush will almost certainly review the progress of the Six-Party Talks on halting North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. China has played an instrumental role in the negotiations, which also include Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia and the United States.

Bush's discussions with the Chinese leader will probably also touch on relations with Taiwan, the officials said. They stressed that the United States will not deviate from its long-held position that there is only one China, that Taiwan is not independent, and that the United States opposes unilateral deviations from the status quo by either China or Taiwan. Asked how bilateral discussions might address the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and Chinese missile deployments along the Taiwan Strait, the officials said the United States is obligated to assist Taiwan in its self-defense efforts under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. They expressed hope that China and Taiwan will pursue opportunities for constructive dialogue.

Economic talks between Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will focus on areas of cooperation, the officials said, citing the countries' joint efforts to liberalize regional and global trade and to plan for reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Realignment of United States forces in Japan will probably also be on the agenda, the officials said. They added that the two sides are committed to "two pillars" in the restructuring effort: reducing the burden on Japan as the host country, and enhancing the capabilities of U.S. forces to strengthen the alliance and maintain stability.

Bush's meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox will probably address several long-term issues such as migration, water rights and trade, according to the officials.

Following is the transcript of the background briefing:

(begin transcript)

FOREIGN PRESS CENTER BACKGROUND BRIEFING WITH SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS

TOPIC: THE PRESIDENT'S TRIP TO THE ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION LEADERS MEETING IN SANTIAGO, CHILE

THE WASHINGTON FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C.
3:00 P.M. EDT, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2004

MR. DENIG: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Foreign Press Center. We are very pleased this afternoon to offer you a briefing on the President's trip to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in Santiago, Chile. I want to emphasize that this is a background briefing, which means you can quote directly or indirectly, but you can only attribute to Senior Administration Officials.

The leading Senior Administration Official will have an opening statement to make, and after that, they'll be very glad to take your questions.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Good afternoon. On Friday, November 19th, the President and First Lady will travel to Santiago, Chile, to attend the 12th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, leaders meeting. APEC is a unique forum that bridges the Pacific and links the world's most dynamic and fastest-growing economies.

The President will meet individually with many Asian and Western Hemisphere leaders to discuss ways to promote free trade and economic growth and to deepen our security cooperation to ensure our continued prosperity.

Following the APEC leaders' meeting, President Bush will remain in Santiago for an official visit with Chilean President Lagos. The President is looking forward to the opportunity to discuss important regional and bilateral issues with President Lagos. Chile is a good ally of the United States. The two presidents will explore ways to deepen our cooperation, strengthen democratic institutions, and promote free trade in the Americas.

Upon departing Chile, the President will travel to Cartagena, Colombia, to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The President looks forward to discussing with President Uribe the many ways the United States and Colombia are working together as close allies to protect and promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law, fight terrorism and drug trafficking, and promote prosperity through economic growth and opportunity. The two presidents will recognize the major progress made under Plan Colombia to win the war against narcoterrorist groups in Colombia, and will emphasize our mutual interests in advancing free trade throughout the Americas.

I will outline the President's schedule, and then we'll be happy to take your questions.

On Friday, November 19th, the President and Mrs. Bush will depart Fort Hood, Texas, for Santiago, Chile. On Saturday, the President and Mrs. Bush will participate in a series of bilateral meetings with the leaders of Canada, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia and Russia. Later, the President will attend an APEC working meeting. That evening, the President and Mrs. Bush will attend the APEC leaders' official dinner and cultural presentation.

On Sunday, the President will have a bilateral meeting with the President of Mexico. Afterwards, the President will attend a series of working APEC meetings, culminating with a reading of the meeting's final declaration. That evening, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Lagos of Chile at the presidential palace, La Moneda. Following the bilateral meeting, the two presidents will conduct a press briefing. To conclude the evening, President Lagos will host a social dinner for President and Mrs. Bush.

On Monday, the President departs Santiago for Cartagena, Colombia. There, the President will meet with President Uribe for a bilateral meeting and working lunch. Following lunch, the two presidents will conduct a joint press availability.

The President and Mrs. Bush will depart Colombia on Monday afternoon, and arrive at the family's ranch near Waco, Texas, later that evening. The press office can fill you in on schedule changes or additions. With that, we're happy to take your questions.

MR. DENIG: Very good. Let me remind you, please, to use the microphone and identify yourself and your news organization. Let's start with Russia, up here in the front, please.

QUESTION: Dmitri Kirsanov, Russian News Agency, TASS. (Inaudible) have a question for the briefer number two, counting from right. Sir, my understanding is that Foreign Minister Lavrov -- and you just confirmed that Presidents Putin and Bush will meet. What kind of agenda you prepared for this bilateral? Can we expect any documents or declarations to be signed after the meeting?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I don't expect that there will be any formal documents or initiatives coming out of the bilateral meeting. Both leaders are there to participate in the APEC leaders' meeting, and from that, there will be a variety of documents and initiatives that will emerge. But the agenda for their bilateral meeting will cover a wide range of issues of common interest.

QUESTION: Like what, specifically? Can you be more specific, just a bit?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In terms of specifics, I think I'd like to leave that for the leaders to determine in their conversation.

MR. DENIG: Let's go to the lady on the left here.

QUESTION: Nadia Tsao with the Liberty Times. I have a question for [Senior Administration Official]. President Bush is going to meet President Hu Jintao. Just wondering, will they talk about Taiwan issue, and also, the North Korean issue? Could you give us some talking points they might talk about?

And also, one question regarding to the Leaders' Declaration, in the past few years, you know, anti-terrorism is a major theme of the Leaders' Declaration. I wonder, this year, will that be the same thing?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In the bilateral meetings between President Bush and President Hu Jintao, I'm certain that North Korea and Taiwan will come up; they always do. That's an important part of the agenda that the U.S. and China have to discuss. On North Korea, we'll work with the Chinese, the President will talk to President Hu about how to get the North Koreans to agree to completely give up in a transparent way their full nuclear programs, both highly-enriched uranium and plutonium, and any other related programs.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In general terms, all the parties except North Korea have accepted this goal and accepted there needs to be multilateral solution and a multilateral agreement. In June, we put forward a proposal. We worked with our allies, discussed with China and Russia. It's on the table and we're ready to get to work, and so one of the key issues we'll be talking to President Hu about how to get the North Koreans seriously focused on this issue.

And on Taiwan, you know, the President's been very clear and very consistent on this. We have a One China policy. We take seriously our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act. We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo, and we see small elements that are new from Taipei, the 10-10 and 11-10 speeches of Chen Shui-bian. We sometimes hear things from Beijing. The President thinks that some discussion and dialogue is a useful thing for the parties and for the entire region, but there won't be any departures in terms of U.S. policy on this issue. We've been very clear and very consistent, but it is always something that comes up.

I don't know if you want to talk about the broader agenda or --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, in terms of a leader statement, the terms of a leader statement are being worked on right now. The foreign ministers and the trade ministers are meeting right now in Santiago, so the process of developing the final outlines of that document are still in process and some of that will also occur when the leaders themselves are there at their meetings.

But we do expect that APEC will do what it's done in recent years, which is to focus on two key pillars, one being issues of common interest on the economic front, including trade liberalization, as well as to focus on the issues of promoting the safety and security of our people, including two initiatives directed towards the issue of counterterrorism.

MR. DENIG: Let's go to the first row, in the corner.

QUESTION: Nobuyoshi Sakajiri, Asahi Shimbun.

My question is also on North Korea. According to the remarks made by North Koreans recently, they lost interest not only in the six-party talks but also in the bilateral talk with the U.S. In these circumstances, are you going to take any action at the Santiago APEC? But don't you think it's very dangerous (inaudible) North Korea to reprocess of spent fuel rods and producing plutonium freely?

Thank you very much.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: (Inaudible), all 21 members of APEC put forward a very strong statement calling on North Korea to completely dismantle its nuclear weapons program. And that's the record for APEC. That's the view of all 21 members, ranging across the Pacific Ocean.

This time the President will have an opportunity to meet with the five leaders separately, of course, but with the five leaders whose countries are in the six-party talks -- Russia, Japan, the ROK, China -- and to work together to find ways to speak clearly to North Korea with one voice, that any further move towards provocation would only lead to further isolation, but that there's an opportunity for North Korea, and that all five parties are willing to work together to improve opportunities for the North Korean people if the North Korean side comes to the table and makes some serious strategic decisions end its nuclear weapons program.

But there are slightly different takes, of course, in each of the five parties. That's inevitable when you have a multilateral process. But what's very new and very important is that all the parties now accept that this is a regional and global challenge that North Korea has to give up its program completely, and that all of us should be part of the solution. That consensus came through in APEC meetings in the past, it came through in the six-party talks, and now there's an opportunity with all the players to start looking at how we get North Korea to realize that its future is going to be better if it comes back and takes advantage of the six-party process. And we think, frankly, that they will. The things we hear out of Pyongyang are often posturing, and I think all of us -- Japan, the United States -- all of us who deal with North Korea have gotten used to a lot of this rhetoric.

MR. DENIG: Go to Taiwan, in the first row here, please.

QUESTION: Charlie Snyder of the Taipei Times. This question is for [Senior Administration Official].

In the President's talks with President Hu on Taiwan, do you expect the President to make any initiatives to try and enhance the possibility of Cross-Strait dialogue? And if the Chinese raise the question of arms sales to Taiwan, what sort of response will the President have and will there be any discussion of the Chinese missile buildup across from Taiwan?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: On the arms sales and that issue, the President has been consistent and very clear on this, that we take serious our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act to help Taiwan defend itself, but at the same time, we think there should be opportunities for dialogue. If they're out there, we hope that both sides will look at them. We're very cognizant of the so-called "six assurances."

We're not in the business, nor is the President, of trying to mediate or broker, but certainly, it's in the interest of the entire region and of both parties, which is why not only President Bush, but other leaders in the region encouraged not only the maintenance of the status quo but opportunities for discussion. As I said, we've seen things like Chen Shui-bian's 10-10 and 10-11 statement and we've seen things from Beijing that suggest there are some possibilities gradually to do that.

MR. DENIG: Let's go to Mexico here in the third row please.

QUESTION: Thank you. Javier Garza from Monitor, Mexico.

[Senior Administration Official], what is the agenda for President Bush's bilateral with President Fox? What are the main topics that are going to be touched when they meet on Sunday, or is it going to be just restricted to trade issues, or is it going to be a broader theme?

And also, is there going to be a follow-up on what came up during the Binational last week, this discussion about NAFTA, plus the -- how to increase the integration of NAFTA countries?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The strange thing about presidents is they talk about whatever they want to and (inaudible). They'll speak what they want to speak about. So I can give you an idea what I think they're going to talk about, but I can't tell you definitely what they will speak about. And obviously, President Bush and President Fox have a very good relationship. It's a very fluid relationship and they've met many times. They're very comfortable with each other.

So they're really going to be looking, in the short time they have, about 30 minutes, at a broad range of bilateral issues, where it will be important, obviously; migration issues; water issues; trade issues will loom large in the talks. As you know, Secretary Powell was in Mexico City for the Binational Commission meetings and highlighted the fact that migration issues remain a high priority for the Bush Administration, especially looking ahead to a second term.

And so these will almost certainly be important issues discussed, but at the same time, Mexico and the United States have been working very closely in the region and in the world on a variety of issues, in the region on larger trade issues, whether it's the Free Trade Area of the Americas, trying to maintain stability and democracy in Haiti, working in Bolivia, and those regional issues will be discussed also.

QUESTION: My name is Toru Yoshida with Nikkei newspaper.

I have a question to [Senior Administration Official]. What is the main economic issue on the bilateral meeting with Mr. Hu? And how seriously Mr. President ask to Mr. Hu to reform -- to accelerate the reform of Chinese currency system?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We can tell you what we think the issues will be, and we have these in a lot of our bilateral discussions. We, with the U.S.-China relationship, established the so-called JCCT, Joint Committee on Commerce and Trade, and I think all of the issues that are in there, and all of the commitments and discussions there, are the kind of agenda that I think both sides will draw on for their discussion and implementation of some of those things. [Senior Administration Official] probably would be able to speak authoritatively on some of this.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I think what Briefer #1 said is correct. It's hard to say what the leaders will actually talk about. You know, they will go in the room and decide how much time they'll devote to each topic, given the limited time they have available to them. But there's a range of economic issues, many of which are framed and discussed through the JCCT mechanism that was discussed, that may come up. There are also issues that come up in the Joint Economic Commission work that our Treasury Department leads, with their counterparts, that deal with the issues of currency.

So it's likely that issues that deal with either sort of any of those range of financial and economic issues will come up, the specifics, though, we'll have to see.

QUESTION: Thank you. I'm from Nikkei newspaper, Japan.

Now, ASEAN country and Japan and Korea and China are discussing about formulating a free trade zone, and also starting to attempt to foment some economic cooperation framework. And is the U.S. willing to raise or mention this issue within the framework of APEC? And also, what is the U.S. position on this?

And also, secondly, I would like to ask, what does (inaudible) for U.S.-Japan by the administration?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'll let my colleagues talk about the second part.

On the first part, if the question is, what is our position with regard to countries undertaking free trade agreements, it's obviously not for us, you know, it's not really for us to say, but the overall goals which were agreed to among the APEC countries called for trade liberalization and free trade among the member economies. And so, countries and economies undertaking free trade agreements are fully consistent with the broader goals that leaders have agreed to in the APEC process.

We ourselves are engaged in trade liberalization with the region, both through the multilateral mechanism of the WTO, as well as through bilateral agreements that we either are negotiating or have actually implemented with countries like Singapore and Chile and others. So we have an agenda that's consistent with the overall goals and other measures that countries take in that same respect are for them to do.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In terms of the U.S.-Japan bilateral, this is a meeting between two very good friends, President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi. And there are so many issues that the United States and Japan are working on together now that there's a very broad menu to draw from. Certainly, the two leaders have an interest in the North Korea issue. They are both following, I think, the very good progress we're making in discussions on U.S. force posture and U.S.-Japan security relationship.

Both are committed to the process of reconstruction and bringing Iraq to successful elections. Japan is playing a variety of roles. Regional issues and bilateral economic issues, there's a very, very rich menu for them to draw from, and this will be the third meeting in just a few months, of course, because the was Sea Island and then UNGA and now this meeting, so I think they'll continue the strands of those discussions. We're not looking for any new joint statements or initiatives. They're going to continue this very robust discussion they've had on bilateral, regional and global cooperation over the past few summits.

MR. DENIG: Okay, let's go to Hong Kong.

QUESTION: Phoenix TV of Hong Kong, Wei Jing.

The six assurance, on the question of Taiwan sovereignty is, I remember is that it was, in fact, a previous statement. The first statement was in the three communiqués, which is that Taiwan is part of China, but it didn't define China. Can you just explain clearer what is the question of our sovereignty on Taiwan?

And also, last thing, does the President share the concern of President Hu Jintao that the Chinese say invisible movement towards independence. Is that conductive to the stability in the region?

(Off the record.)

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The United States has a one China policy, and it's been a very successful one because we've not tried to fill it with footnotes and details and definitions. So, good try. (Laughter.)

And in terms of the second part of your question, we've been very clear that we think it's in the best interest of everyone not to have any unilateral effort to change the status quo, and we would oppose any effort by any party to unilaterally change the status quo. And we think there's, as I said, some possibilities for constructive discussions. We wouldn't dictate what they are, but we do see signs and elements coming out of both Taipei and Beijing that are of interest.

MR. DENIG: Let's go to the second row, blue shirt.

QUESTION: Michael Lavallee from Tokyo Broadcasting System.

Again, one more on North Korea. In answer to a previous question, you said we think frankly that North Korea will come back to the table. I'm just wondering what the basis for your optimism is on that other than they have no other choice. They really haven't had a choice for the last three years and they've just continued to process nuclear weapons, process fuel and continued to build nuclear weapons. So I'm just wondering what really is the basis for the optimism now in that they will come back and accept a deal.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Part of it is that that's what the North Koreans are telling the other parties in the talks, and there's no timeline, no timetable, but that's what they're telling our Chinese friends and our other friends in the region who are involved. But part of it you answered yourself. They have no other way to do this. And they've got all of their most powerful neighbors telling them that they need to resolve this peacefully through the six-party talks, and that's pretty powerful pressure on them.

MR. DENIG: Let's go to Kyodo News in the white shirt.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. My name is Ota with Japanese Kyodo News.

I have a question about the Iranian nuclear deal. I mean recently about the EU and the Iranian there be a kind of a agreement on the suspension of enrichment program. This Iranian nuclear issue will come up during any entire meeting on the otherwise or some bilateral meeting like China or Russian of who have some influence on the Iranian regime; and also, APEC readouts going to issue a new statement on Iranian case just for promoting the implementation of this agreement?

Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The good thing about APEC is that you have a gathering of leaders who represent over 60 percent of the world's GDP. You have leaders from important U.S. allies, the powers in this hemisphere and east Asia, southeast Asia. And there's an agenda that the leaders work on together that's very significant. And as my colleague said, moves forward trade liberalization and facilitation also strengthen cooperation on terrorist or proliferation threats to all of our peoples and our economies in this region.

But it's also an opportunity for leaders to talk about issues of the day. So in the past 10 years of APEC summits, any issue of the day is fair game because you have these very important leaders who know each other, gathering to talk about prosperity and peace. So the answer to your question is anything that's of importance to these leaders is fair game. And that's one of the values of having them gather once a year.

QUESTION: Just a follow-up. Any specific statement --

MR. DENIG: The mike.

QUESTION: Oh, I'm sorry. Is there any specific statement prepared -- I mean, issued by entire community, APEC leaders?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It's a little different from the G-8 in that -- in that sense, the G-8 tends to put out more statements on topical issues. And leaders and foreign ministers will be meeting and trade ministers will be meeting. We'll talk about what kind of statement to have and what should be in it.

MR. DENIG: All right. Let's go to the front left here, please.

QUESTION: Sawaki of Tokyo Shimbun.

About the -- there seems to be a view emerging that with the realignment of U.S. forces the U.S. defense security corporations should also be looked at in the context of normal posture. And by that I mean not necessarily restricted to the so-called Far East clause in the security treaty. What is the U.S. do on this and would you relate how this issue of the realignment of the U.S. basing in Japan will be discussed in the forthcoming bilateral meeting?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In the context of discussions they've had that President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi have agreed that we have an opportunity with the change in technology and we have a responsibility with the variety of new threats we face to move forward with modernizing the alliance. And the two pillars they've agreed on as they've discussed this are that we need to take advantage of the opportunities and address the threats so that we reduce the burden of hosts, and, at the same time, enhance the capabilities of U.S. forces and of the U.S.-Japan alliance to maintain stability and to address challenges to the security of Japan and the security of the U.S. and stability in the Far East.

And those are the pillars that are guiding this discussion. And the two leaders recognize that and the two governments are looking at strategic aspects of this and also at bases, but putting it in that broader context. So that's how they're looking at it. They're not taking a look at the bottom-up specific issues, the kind you just introduced, but rather this big picture: How do we achieve these goals?

QUESTION: But you don't think the security of Far East Clause an obstacle to U.S.-Japan security relation in the future?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The Far East Clause is an article of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, so it's an important part of the security relationship.

MR. DENIG: All right. Let's go to the gentleman right there.

QUESTION: Norman Fu of the China Times of Taiwan. I'd like to direct my question to [Senior Administration Official].

You just mentioned the President, during the APEC summit, I mean, informal conference, will have a bilateral with President Hu of China. Of course, Taiwan will be represented by Dr. Li, (inaudible) at the meeting. I wonder, although no bilateral is scheduled with him, whether the President will take the opportunity to ask him to convey any message to President Chen Shui-bian. You know, recently, Congressman Leach, who went to Taiwan in May to attend the inauguration of President Chen, disclosed that he did convey a message from the President, that is, the President doesn't want to see Taiwan becoming independent. So I wonder if the President will take the opportunity through Dr. Li to stress the same message again or some additional messages.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, as you know, Dr. Li (inaudible) is a very respected figure, not only on Taiwan, but in the Asia Pacific more broadly and internationally he's a very able representative for the people of Taiwan. It's important to us, it's important to many members of APEC that the people of Taiwan have active participation in this process, both from the perspective of their economic contribution and other contributions to the region.

We don't have any bilateral planned, but there's no limitation on discussions among any leaders in the APEC setting and I'm sure that Dr. Li will have opportunities for discussion with a number of the other participants and that he will represent Taiwan very well.

QUESTION: Thanks. Volker Bargula of the German Press Agency.

The WTO textile trade system is about to expire in a month and a half. I was wondering if that's going to come up at the meeting and also where the U.S. stands, if you are planning on doing anything to help some of these developing countries that are bound to lose, you know, hundreds of thousands of shops.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There will be discussion at the leaders' meeting on WTO issues, generally. But the focus, I expect, as it was in the last, in the Bangkok meeting, will be on what the APEC economies can do to promote and advance the Doha negotiations. As you may remember, they -- the statement that the leaders issued at the last APEC leaders' meeting was a very powerful catalyst for resurrecting the WTO negotiations, and so we expect the leaders will focus on what they can do to move those negotiations along to the next stage.

In terms of whether the issue of -- expiration of the textile quotas will specifically come up, I think for the reasons my colleagues mentioned, there's a wide range of things that come up in the discussions that leaders have. I wouldn't be surprised if that matter came up, but at this point, I don't know if it will, or I don't know if there will be any specific discussion of that.

MR. DENIG: All right. Let's go to the gentleman in the back or the middle, please.

QUESTION: Thank you. (Inaudible) once again. After the President finished with the APCE business and he will stay to conduct some, let's say, Western Hemisphere business for a while, in light of Secretary (inaudible) in several countries this past week, emphasizing the role of security, and the fact that terrorists might try to use Latin America to jump into the United States, what is the President's agenda on this subject or is this going to come up in Chile or in Colombia where, you know, there's, especially Colombia, there are some security concerns?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Security is always an agenda item for us, especially the war on terror and how it relates to this hemisphere. So it will be discussed in Chile with President Lagos, it will be discussed in Colombia with President Uribe, and later in the month, it will be discussed in Ottawa with Prime Minister Martin.

Obviously, in Colombia, there's going to be a big focus on the war on terror, especially the war on terror as it relates to Colombia and the efforts of President Uribe to take on three organizations that we consider to be Foreign Terrorist Organizations, narcoterrorist organizations: the FARC, the ELN and the AUC.

And one of the principle purposes of traveling to Cartagena is to underscore our commitment, not only to President Uribe, and to indicate the strong support that we have given to President Uribe, but also to underscore our commitment to the Colombian people, because effectively, the Colombian state, a democratic state, is under assault by narcoterrorists and has been for quite some time. And we're committed to seeing them prevail in that fight, and kind of recapture the national territory that they've lost to these narcoterrorists and become a prosperous nation.

MR. DENIG: Is there a final question?

QUESTION: Toru Yoshida with Nikkei newspaper. I have a question, again, to [Senior Administration Official]. With respect to bilateral meeting with Mr. Prime Minister Koizumi, what will be the main economic issue with Japan? And how about (inaudible) for (inaudible) postal* privatization?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: One of the most interesting things about U.S.-Japan relations, unless you're an economic reporter for Nikkei-Shimbun, is how few trade disputes and economic disputes there are, and how much the economic discussion focuses on areas where we cooperate: success in the WTO round, in the Doha round, reconstruction plans for Afghanistan and for Iraq, how to look at trade liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region. And I think that will be a lot of it.

There are reforms that Prime Minister Koizumi is making. One of them is postal privatization. Our side is obviously interested, because Japan is such an important trading partner for us. We want to make sure that Prime Minister Koizumi succeeds and that there are opportunities. But there aren't any major contentious issues that would have characterized the U.S.-Japan summit, say, a decade ago. There are economic issues, but they tend to be areas where we're cooperating.

So there is something to cover, it's okay. (Laughter.)

MR. DENIG: Let me emphasize that, once again, this was a background briefing, and that any attribution to a briefer should be to "Senior Administration Official." But with that, I want to thank our briefers very much for spending their time with us, and thank you, too, ladies and gentlemen.

(end transcript)

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

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