[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

[[Page 2103]]

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.