China rallies Apec to fight terrorism

China and the US take a united stand against terrorism

Chinese President Jiang Zemin has told Asia-Pacific leaders that the world is fighting an international battle against terrorism, despite some doubts about US tactics.

Leaders of 21 countries from the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation group (Apec) are holding their second and final day of talks in Shanghai dominated by the terrorism issue.

Russian and China want the US-led military campaign to end soon

"I want to emphasise in particular the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States tell us that terrorism has become an international public problem. We are fighting a battle against international terrorism," Mr Jiang said.

He said the attacks had made "an already grave economic situation even worse".

In line with the Apec custom that the host chooses the dress code, the group leaders wore brightly-coloured traditional Chinese silk jackets for their talks on Sunday.

They are expected to approve a statement that condemns terrorism but does not mention the US bombing raids on Afghanistan.

The declaration will also commit member countries to choking off terrorist groups' funding.

Every nation must oppose this enemy or be, in turn, its target

President Bush

The Muslim leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia object to the US air strikes which began on 7 October.

President Jiang and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have called for the US-led campaign in Afghanistan to move rapidly to a political solution.

Bush plea

On Saturday, President George W Bush urged Apec to unite against terrorism, promising that the 11 September attacks would not stop the building of free markets and free trade around the world.

China has imposed tight security at the summit

Mr Bush said the war on terrorism was "a fight to save the civilised world, and values common to the West, to Asia, to Islam".

He is due to hold talks with President Putin on Sunday.

Mr Putin was the first world leader to telephone Mr Bush on the day of the attacks to offer his condolences - the first move in a rapidly developing new alliance between the two former Cold War foes.

Freedom over fear

Mr Bush said every nation must oppose terrorism or become its target.

The BBC's Rob Watson, travelling with the president, says he contrasted the bleak world view of Osama Bin Laden to the dynamism of Apec countries.

"Choose openness, trade and tolerance, and you will find prosperity, liberty and knowledge. Choose isolation, envy and resentment, and you will find poverty, stagnation and ignorance. Our nations have chosen - we have chosen freedom over fear," Mr Bush said.

Mr Bush said Apec would agree what he called "new and useful" tools to enhance trade, and promised that the US would do its part to restore economic momentum.

Assurances

The president is using the Apec summit to reach out to regional leaders to boost support for the coalition against terrorism.

On Saturday, he assured Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is one of the most outspoken critics of the attacks on Afghanistan, that the United States was trying to be "as careful as we possibly could" to avoid civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

And on Friday, Mr Bush met President Jiang for the first time, and said the US and China had a "common understanding" of the threat posed by international terrorists.