    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [November 18, 2006]
    [Pages 2102-2103]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    November 18, 2006

         Good morning. This week, I'm visiting Singapore, Indonesia, and
    Vietnam, where I'm attending the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific
    Economic Cooperation Forum. On this trip, I am carrying a message for
    the people of this region: America will remain engaged in Asia because
    our interests depend on the expansion of freedom and opportunity in this
    vital part of the world.
         Asia is important to America because prosperity in our country
    depends on trade with Asia's growing economies. Today, America's trade
    across the Pacific is greater than our trade across the Atlantic, and we
    need to continue opening up markets in this part of the world to
    American goods and services.
         My position is clear: As long as the playing field is level,
    America's farmers, small businesses, and workers can compete with
    anyone. So America will continue to pursue free and fair trade at every
    level with individual countries, across whole regions, and through the
    World Trade Organization. By opening new markets for American goods and
    services, we help create new customers for our products abroad and jobs
    and opportunities for our workers and small businesses at home.
         Asia is also important to America because our nations face common
    challenges, like energy and disease, that transcend borders. Our growing
    economies are too dependent on oil, and we have a common interest in
    pursuing affordable, reliable energy alternatives. So we're working with
    our partners in this region to develop new energy technologies that will
    make us less dependent on oil, including clean coal and ethanol,
    biodiesel and hydrogen fuel cells.
         We are also working with our partners in the region to address the
    threat of diseases like avian flu, which has the potential to claim many
    lives and inflict terrible damage on our societies if not detected and
    stopped quickly. So we're sharing information and putting wise
    preparedness plans in place to help ensure that we can contain the
    spread of avian flu and be ready if a pandemic ever occurs. By coming
    together to address these and other challenges, we're helping build more
    hopeful societies in Asia and stronger partners for America.
         Finally, Asia is important to America because we face common
    threats to our security. The people of this region understand the
    terrorist threat because they have been targets of terrorist violence.
    Since September the 11th, the terrorists have attacked a nightclub in
    Bali, a hotel in Jakarta, a ferry packed with passengers in Manila Bay,
    a school full of children in Russia, Australia's Embassy in Indonesia,
    and many other targets. The killers who committed these acts of terror
    are followers of a clear and focused ideology that hates freedom,
    rejects tolerance, and their stated goal is a radical Islamic empire
    stretching from Europe to Southeast Asia.
         The greatest danger in our world today is that these terrorists
    could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction and use them to
    blackmail free nations or kill on an unimaginable scale. This threat
    poses a risk to our entire civilization, and we're working with our
    partners in the Asia-Pacific to defeat it.
         In my meetings with leaders in the region, we discussed the threat
    of proliferation from North Korea. After North Korea's recent nuclear
    test, the United Nations Security Council passed a unanimous resolution
    imposing sanctions on North Korea's regime, and America is working with
    our partners to enforce those sanctions. We will also continue working
    with Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia through the six-party talks.
    Our nations are speaking with one voice: North Korea must abandon its

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    nuclear weapons programs, and we will not tolerate North Korea's
    proliferation of nuclear technology to hostile regimes and terrorist
    networks.
         In the long run, the surest path to security is the expansion of
    freedom. History shows that free societies are peaceful societies. So
    America is committed to advancing freedom and democracy as the great
    alternative to repression and radicalism. And by standing with our
    allies in the Asia-Pacific region, we will defend our free way of life,
    confront the challenges of a new century, and build a more hopeful,
    peaceful, and prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.
         Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 7:20 a.m., local time, on November 16
    at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m.,
    e.s.t., on November 18. The transcript was made available by the Office
    of the Press Secretary on November 17 but was embargoed for release
    until the broadcast. Due to the 11-hour time difference, the radio
    address was broadcast after the President's remarks in Hanoi, Vietnam.
    The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of this address.