Asian leaders arrive in U.S. to nurture ties with Bush govt

Asian leaders arrive in U.S. to nurture ties with Bush govt

WASHINGTON (AFP): Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen and
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori have arrived in the United
States ahead of separate talks with President George W. Bush
later in the week.

Mori's plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base just before 4:00
pm on Sunday (4 a.m. Jakarta time on Monday), a day before he is
scheduled to visit Bush.

In comments to reporters while en route to the United States,
Mori said the talks would cover the faltering Japanese economy,
security ties between Japan and the United States.

"I believe it is extremely important that Japan and the United
States confirm economic policies at the top leaders' level at
this point in time," Kyodo News quoted Mori as saying on a
government flight to Washington.

Also figuring high on the agenda was last month's sinking of a
Japanese trawler by a US nuclear submarine. "I would like to
confirm the United States' sincere attitude in the investigation
into the accident's cause, efforts to salvage the ship and issues
of compensation for the victims' families," Mori said, according
to Jiji Press.

Mounting uncertainty over Mori's lameduck premiership and
political fallout from a disaster at sea off Hawaii that saw a US
nuclear submarine slam and sink a Japanese fishing trawler will
cloud the meeting planned as a bid by Bush to reinvigorate US
ties with Japan.

The meeting also comes amid concerns Japan's slumbering
economy may be about to slip back into crisis, just as the United
States experiences its own slowdown -- an issue likely to be high
on the agenda at the talks.

"It is in our interest that Japan be economically strong and
prosperous," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan on
Friday.

Mindful of the anger in Japan over the submarine disaster,
which killed nine Japanese, U.S. officials are going out of their
way to accommodate Mori, despite what appears to be his limited
political life back home.

Mori's visit comes as a navy inquiry into the tragedy winds
down. Japanese embassy officials said here Friday he would stop
in Hawaii on the way home to meet relatives of the dead and to
lay a wreath.

Qian arrived in New York for a series of talks with U.S.
officials to culminate with a meeting with Bush on Thursday.
A foreign policy veteran, Qian is hoping to size up Bush's new
administration, which only weeks after taking power has shown
every sign of living up to a campaign pledge to take a firm
stance towards Beijing.

"The purpose here is to start the dialogue," said a senior
administration official, admitting the "complicated" nature of
Sino-U.S. relations.

Looming over the talks are policy clashes about Taiwan, human
rights and Beijing's staunch opposition to Bush's plans to
develop a missile defense shield, fueling a view here the two
giant states are on a collision course.

Those differences have been aired in a very public dialogue
between the two sides, veering from stinging Chinese attacks on
U.S. Taiwan policy to conciliatory remarks by Premier Zhu Rongji
last week.

On Friday, Bush announced he would accept an invitation to
visit Beijing following the Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum summit
in Shanghai in October.