For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 20, 2001
President's Radio Address from Shanghai, China
Radio Address by the President to the Nation
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Listen to the President's Remarks
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I'm speaking to you today from Shanghai, China, at an international meeting of Pacific Rim nations where we are continuing to enlist the resources of the civilized world in our war against terrorism.
I am meeting with leaders from China and
Mexico, Russia and Canada, Australia and Japan, and many other friends,
allies, and trading partners. We're discussing ways to cooperate to
improve intelligence, freeze funding, and better track down terrorist
groups. We're also discussing ways to better protect all our
citizens from a new threat, the threat of bioterrorism.
America has now confirmed several
different cases of anthrax exposure in Florida, New York, New Jersey,
and Washington, D.C. I commend the many health and law
enforcement officials who have worked quickly to identify people who
may have been exposed, and provide preventative antibiotic
treatment. Their quick work has no doubt saved lives.
We do not yet know who sent anthrax to the
United States Capitol, or several different media
organizations. We do not, at this point, have any evidence
linking the anthrax to the terror network that carried out the attacks
of September 11. We do know that anyone who deliberately
delivers anthrax is engaged in a crime and an act of terror, a hateful
attempt to harm innocent people and frighten our citizens.
Our health care laboratories and law
enforcement officials continue to work overtime to test samples, to
track leads, to prosecute hoaxes that have now been reported not only
across America, but across the world. These attacks once again reveal
the evil at the heart of terrorism, the evil we must fight.
The nations meeting here in Shanghai
understand what is at stake. If we do not stand against
terrorism now, every civilized nation will at some point be its
target. We will defeat the terrorists by destroying their
network, wherever it is found. We will also defeat the
terrorists by building an enduring prosperity that promises more
opportunity and better lives for all the world's people. We
will oppose envy, resentment and anger with growth, trade and
democracy.
The countries of the Pacific Rim made the
decision to open themselves up to the world, and the result is one of
the great development success stories of our time. The
peoples of this region are more prosperous, healthier, and better
educated than they were only two decades ago. Many more live
under democratically-elected governments.
This progress has been achieved by people
of all cultures and all religions, by Christian and Buddhist South
Korea, and majority Muslim Malaysia and Indonesia. And this
progress proves what openness can accomplish.
The terrorists attacked the World Trade
Center. They fear trade because they understood that trade
brings freedom and hope. We're in Shanghai to advance world
trade, because we know that trade can conquer poverty and
despair. In this struggle of freedom against fear, the
outcome is not in doubt -- freedom will win. And it will
bring new hope to the lives of millions of people in Asia and
throughout the world.
Thank you for listening.
END
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