[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[October 19, 2003]
[Pages 1361-1362]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With President Hu Jintao of China in Bangkok
October 19, 2003

    President Bush. President Hu and I have had a very constructive 
dialog. 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 dialog, 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, counterterrorism, Iraq, and North Korean nuclear issue. We 
both agreed that the economic cooperation and trade between our two 
countries have benefited our two peoples tremendously, and we stated our 
readiness to resolve whatever questions that might emerge in our 
economic exchanges and trade through dialog.
    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.

[[Page 1362]]

Note: The President spoke at 4:52 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt Erawan 
Bangkok. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
these remarks.