U.S. Relations with the People's Republic of China (2005)

APEC Talks Center on Trade, Security Issues, Rice Says

Avian influenza also a major concern, according to secretary of state

Following is the transcript of the briefing:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Busan, South Korea)
November 16, 2005

ON-THE-RECORD BRIEFING

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
And U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman

November 16, 2005
Busan, South Korea

SECRETARY RICE:

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

So I would say the three big issues here are on economics and trade, on security and on the potential for a pandemic. But this all takes place in the context of a region where the number of democracies has grown dramatically over the last decade or so, couple of decades or so, but where obviously the issue of democratic change in China remains a major issue given China's weight and size, and where there is really one of the worst regimes in the world here in Burma in this region in Burma. And so that's the agenda we've been dealing with.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: On North Korea, you're here with most of the other participants in the six-party talks. How large a topic of discussion has that process been for you today? And are you concerned that progress is stalling out at all and do you think North Korea is doing what it needs to do to live up to the agreements it's already made?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I have had discussions with all of my counterparts -- the Chinese Foreign Minister, the Russian Foreign Minister, the South Korean Foreign Minister of course, and the Japanese Foreign Minister -- concerning the six-party talks. Essentially, we are all on the same page, which is that the real issue here is that North Korea needs to get very serious about dismantlement and disarmament and about verification measures, and so sort of reaffirmation of that.

It was by no means the only topic that I've talked to people here about. We've had -- I've had extensive discussions also on Iran, for instance, with both the Russians and the Chinese because they're obviously members of the Board of Governors. The Japanese are members of the Board of Governors.

But on the six-party talks we have the Statement of Principles from the September round. I think that was an extremely important achievement because it really has become now the kind of framework that everybody is working within, at least the five parties are working within.

And to your last question, I think the jury is out on whether the North Koreans are doing what they -- are prepared to do what they need to do, which is to get serious about dismantlement and verification obligations that they undertook in that framework agreement. And thus far, and Chris Hill can speak for himself on this, but thus far I think the round that just ended did not have the kind of engagement on that issue from the North Koreans that one -- that we might have expected. And so we've redoubled our efforts with all the other parties to go back to the North Koreans and say that's really got to -- that's where we've got to start.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: Yeah, actually, I have -- I came with two questions I wanted. The first thing is you said that you're speaking to the Russians and the Chinese about Iran. Is there any movement on that in terms of their attitude towards eventual referral?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, let me answer that first. Actually, what I was speaking to them about, the diplomatic activities that are underway. I mean, there is a lot of diplomatic activity. You know the EU is apparently making other proposals. The Iranians have said they want to review it. I principally wanted to hear really with the Russians and others how they think the diplomacy has gone because, as I've said, the real key here is that the 24th we will go back to the Board of Governors, but we're going to do a referral at a time of our choosing. I think we've got the votes at any time but we really want to key a referral to how the diplomacy is going.

Thus far, I don't -- I haven't met anybody in these discussions who think that the Iranians have yet made a serious move toward returning to negotiations that might be consequential. But you know, we've still got several days. We'll see.

QUESTION: And the other one I just wanted to ask you is again about Doha because there has been sort of a round of acrimony between APEC on one hand and the European Union on the other hand, at least (inaudible), and I was wondering if you think that the prospects for success in Hong Kong are getting worse rather than getting better right now.

SECRETARY RICE: Over to you. (Laughter.)

AMBASSADOR PORTMAN: I just still hold out hope that given the importance of the round that we can figure out a way to come together, even in the next couple weeks, before the Hong Kong preparations need to be finalized. I'm going back to Geneva again next week. I'm meeting with the European Union as well as some other key countries. And we're still hopeful. I was asked in a press conference now whether the U.S. is withdrawing our offer, and the answer is no. The U.S. is instead going to keep engaging and hopefully we can come together.

QUESTION: Right. Okay, that's hope but it doesn't sound -- it sounds like you're less encouraged.

AMBASSADOR PORTMAN: Well, no, I mean -- again, maybe I'm just infected by the enthusiasm of the 21 nations here. I mean, everybody here says the same thing. I mean, all of them, you know, from China to Chile, which is that these talks are critical to the economic growth of their countries and to the global economic growth that otherwise would not occur. It's a once in a generation opportunity to truly enhance economic growth and alleviate poverty, and that opportunity cannot be brushed aside. So there will be a lot of pressure on all of us to come together.

The final resolutions will not be in Hong Kong but it was never meant to be the end of the process. It was meant to be a milestone and to establish a roadmap. The roadmap may be a little more ambiguous than we'd hoped it'd be. But Hong Kong, you know, will go on and, again, I'm hopeful in the next two weeks we can make some more progress toward a more definitive roadmap. But there will be a Hong Kong. I am confident that the European Union is not done negotiating because it's just too important.

SECRETARY RICE: Let me just mention on this, too, that one of the kind of stories that got lost even at the Summit of the Americas was the degree to which there were so many countries that spoke favorably about the need for a successful Doha round. I think you saw when the President and the Brazilian President got together, President Lula, they talked about the importance of Doha. They talked about the importance of the agricultural subsidies proposal that the President had made, the trade-distorting subsidies that the President had made. And while the President again repeated that, you know, we're not going to unilaterally disarm in a sense, but the sincerity of his proposal has had an effect on a lot of developing countries that are looking for similar actions from others. And so it's not just the energy of the people here, but you had a lot of energy in Argentina also, from those countries about Doha.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

(end transcript)