Iraq to shadow Bush at Asia summit

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Deb Riechmann
President Bush will urge U.S. allies at an Asia summit next week to stand firm against North Korea's nuclear program and to keep their troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The president arrives in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday evening local time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting. But he's leaving before it ends so he can return to Washington before the top commander in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad testify to Congress about the status of the U.S. military buildup in Iraq.
In a pre-trip interview with Australia's Sky News network in Washington, Bush said he would be concerned about China's military if the country ever turned hostile.
"My view of China is that they're internally focused to the extent that they want economic growth and vitality, they're externally focused in order to get the raw materials they need, but if they ever turn hostile, I would be concerned about the military," Bush said.
He also urged countries considering pulling out troops to base their decisions on restoring the country's security, saying the U.S. needs "all our coalition partners" in Iraq.
In addition to the war, topics that will be under discussion at the summit include North Korea, climate change, trade and energy security.
This year's summit is being hosted by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose country has more than 2,500 troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bush will visit a naval installation and meet with opposition Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd, who wants to withdraw Australian forces from Iraq.
"If there are going to be decisions to pull back forces by any of our coalition partners, the president hopes that they would really consider the situation and consider the progress we have made in the surge and how this may affect the calculations of nations, as far as their troop deployments," Dennis Wilder, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asian affairs, told reporters Thursday in a briefing on the trip.
Bush also will urge South Korea, Japan, Russia and China to continue to stand with Washington against North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the communist regime is cooperating with U.N. experts overseeing the mothballing of key nuclear facilities; IAEA experts last month confirmed the shutdown of four nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.
"We've made initial, first steps of importance. Yongbyon is shut down and Yongbyon will move toward disablement in the not-too-distant future," Wilder said. "The next steps that the North Koreans have promised are a full declaration of their nuclear programs - be they the plutonium program, be they whatever they have done on the uranium side - and we are looking forward to the North coming forward with that declaration."
Bush will join leaders from 20 other nations, which with the United States account for 56 percent of the world's gross domestic product, 41 percent of the world's population and half the world's trade. An estimated 66 percent of U.S. products go to the region.
Trade, particularly the global commerce talks known as the Doha Round, is the top U.S. economic priority at the summit. Failure by the United States, European Union, Brazil and India to eliminate trade barriers to farm produce and manufactured goods could be fatal for the talks.
"This is a difficult negotiation," said Dan Price, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs. "It's difficult for everyone, including the United States, but the administration is prepared to make the tough choices if others are likewise prepared to make those tough choices to create new trade flows."
Besides Howard, Bush is tentatively scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and possibly other leaders.
Bush expects to reaffirm in talks with his Chinese counterpart that the United States adheres to its one-China policy and does not support Taiwan's effort to join the United Nations. Wilder said membership in the United Nations requires statehood
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AP