Powell Remarks At Joint APEC Press Conference

Remarks at Joint APEC Ministerial Press Conference

Secretary Colin L. Powell
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
October 18, 2001

QUESTION: I have a question for the Secretary. This meeting has been a declaration of anti-terrorism -- taking some measures to fight terrorism, but there is no mention of the ongoing (inaudible) attack in Afghanistan. We understand that this morning some of the countries have political concerns about the ongoing campaign. Can you shed some light on what kind of concerns have been mentioned? Thank you.

SECRETARY POWELL: I think that this meeting will discuss terrorism. It is important that the ministers do so, and that the leaders do so this weekend when they arrive, because as a result of the tragedies that occurred on the 9/11 date -- that we have all come to know so well -- we have a new threat against our economies, against the civilized world, and we have to respond all together.

I am very proud of the way the world has come together to say that terrorism cannot be tolerated, that those who practice terrorism are not following any faith. They are criminals. They are murderers. They have to be dealt with and brought to justice. I was pleased that in our meetings this morning there was a uniform understanding of this basic concept, and I had the opportunity to explain to my colleagues that the military campaign was just one part of a much, much broader effort that includes financial controls, intelligence activity, legal activity, political and diplomatic activity.

The military campaign is necessary to root out the terrorists in Afghanistan and also to separate them from the regime, and punish the regime for harboring terrorism. I found understanding among my colleagues. There was hope that the military campaign would be ended quickly on a note of success, but I cannot say that concerns were expressed, just the hope that it would achieve its purpose soon.

QUESTION: I'd like to ask the Prime Minister of China and the Secretary of the United States. My question is: After the September 11th attacks, how do you perceive the turning point of the relations between China and the United States at tomorrow's summit? In addition to the terrorist attacks, what other issues will be brought up?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think before the 11th of September, the relationship that the United States enjoyed with the People's Republic of China was very good. I think that since the 11th of September, we have been encouraged by the response that we have had from China on support of the campaign against terrorism.

I think that will be reflected in the conversations that President Bush will have with President Jiang Zemin tomorrow. And my colleague and I have had many discussions in the past several months. I think he would agree with me that our relationship is thriving in a number of different areas: with respect to trade; with respect to free flow of goods; with respect to accession to the World Trade Organization; with respect to getting behind certain problems that had existed, for example, the plane incident of earlier this year which we worked our way through and got behind.

Obviously, there continue to be differences, as you would expect between two big nations. We talk about issues of proliferation and issues of human rights. Because we do have a friendly relationship, a relationship that we both think is valuable and in the best interests of the Asia-Pacific region to keep moving forward, we can speak candidly about the areas in which we disagree and move forward on the areas on which we do agreed.

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