For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 19, 2003
President Bush Meets with President of China
Remarks by President Bush and President Hu Jintao of China
October 19, 2003
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSH AND
PRESIDENT HU JINTAO OF CHINA
Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand
4:52 P.M. (L)
PRESIDENT BUSH: President Hu and I have had a very constructive
dialogue. We talked about a lot of important issues. We talked about
the issue of trade. We talked about the need to make sure that trade
is open and that both countries benefit from trade. I congratulated
China on its recent space launch. I thanked the President for his work
on the recent Security Council resolution for Iraq. We talked about
our mutual desire to wage and win the fight against terror. We spent
time, of course, talking about North Korea. We have a mutual goal, and
that is that the Peninsula be free of nuclear weapons.
I want to thank the President for leading the Beijing talks. We
talked about how to advance the Beijing talks. We talked about how to
advance them to achieving a mutual goal, which is a weapons-free
Peninsula, as well as addressing the security concerns of North Korea
within the context of the six-party talks.
So we've had a very constructive dialogue, and I want to thank the
President.
PRESIDENT HU: I just had a friendly meeting with President Bush.
This is our second meeting in this year. I think that, in itself,
shows the very sound momentum of the development of our bilateral
relations.
We discussed the questions such as the economy and trade, the
terror question, counter-terrorism, Iraq, and North Korean nuclear
issue. We both agreed that the economic cooperation and trade between
our two countries have benefitted our two peoples tremendously, and we
stated our readiness to resolve whatever questions that might emerge in
our economic exchanges and trade through dialogue.
President Bush restated his government's position of adhering to
the one China policy, the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and his
opposition to Taiwan independence. And we both stated our desire to
further intensify our cooperation against the terrorism.
About the North Korean nuclear issue, I said to the President that
China will continue to strengthen our communication and consultations
with various parties concerned, and we will continue to work to promote
the Beijing six-party talks process, so as to strive for a peaceful
resolution of this issue.
I'm ready to work together with the President to promote further
development of our constructive and cooperative relationship.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir.
END 5:00 P.M. (L)
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