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Hu: China will contribute to global peace
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-18 06:28 Hu discounted such fears, saying China remains a "developing country."
"The Chinese nation always loves peace," he said. "China will firmly adhere
to the road of peaceful development."
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Chinese President
Hu Jintao delivers a speech on 'The Implications of China's Economic
Growth on the Economies of the Asia-Pacific Region' during the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Pusan November 17,
2005. Leaders of 21 economies will gather in the South Korean city of
Pusan this week for APEC. [Reuters]
| The business meeting, which heard speeches from several national leaders,
came a day after ministers from the 21-member group reached agreement on
supporting the World Trade Organization's current round of trade talks and other
topics, including ways to tackle the newest regional threat: bird flu.
The need to respond to bird flu gained urgency as
leaders began arriving for the summit, when China confirmed its first human
cases of the virus, including at least one death.
"Nontraditional security issues, such as terrorism, financial risks and
natural disasters, are posing a threat to the very existence and development of
mankind," Hu said in his speech. He didn't mention bird flu.
Bush is expected to make the risk of bird flu's sparking a global human flu
pandemic one of the main issues of the leaders' summit Friday and Saturday,
along with terrorism. The leaders are also expected to issue a statement
supporting the global trade talks.
Hopes of advancing the WTO's trade liberalization goals at a ministerial
meeting next month in Hong Kong have soured because of disputes over agriculture
and other issues, which recent talks in Europe have failed to resolve.
Businesses are increasingly worried about the impact on their work forces and
bottom line of the spread of bird flu, which has killed millions of chickens and
other fowl as well as at least 64 people in Asia.
"We do not view the possibility of avian flu as an Asian
issue, we view it as a global issue," said Robert R. Morse, Asia-Pacific chief
of corporate and investment banking for Citigroup.
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