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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]
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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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