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Bush looking for help on his last APEC summit(Associated Press WorldStream Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON_President George W. Bush does not see his final Asia-Pacific summit this week in South America as a farewell but rather a chance to enlist more nations in the battle against a financial crisis that threatens to pull the world economy into a severe economic recession. In a pre-trip briefing, Bush administration officials said Wednesday that the president was focused on getting more nations to sign on to a broad action plan adopted in Washington last weekend by the Group of 20 nations. He also will have one-on-one talks with the leaders of Russia, China, South Korea and Japan. Bush leaves Friday for a three-day trip to Lima, Peru, where he will attend the 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, likely his last summit with world leaders. Nine of the nations at the summit also attended the Washington summit meeting on the global economic crisis, a gathering of about 20 leaders representing the seven wealthiest nations and major emerging economies, China, Brazil and India. Dan Price, the president's deputy national security adviser for economic affairs, said Bush and the other G-20 leaders who will be attending the APEC meetings were eager to get endorsement for the outlines of the G-20 action plan which proposed a series of approaches countries should pursue to attack a financial crisis that began in the United States with rising defaults on subprime variable-rate mortgages but has now spread globally. The G-20 action plan endorsed increased government stimulus efforts and directed finance ministers to search for ways to improve regulation of financial markets. It was lax regulation in such areas as credit rating agencies and on complex financial instruments, such as certain types of derivatives, that are seen as a root cause of the financial meltdown. Price said that getting the endorsement of the APEC group was seen as critical to building the global support needed to make the plan succeed, including getting these nations to sign on to a G-20 pledge not to increase trade protections over the next 12 months. "It is only through adherence to core free market principles that we will be able to bring about the needed reforms to the financial system," Price said. Bush was scheduled to meet after arriving Friday with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The time for his discussions with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had not yet been determined, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters at a White House briefing about the trip. With both officials, Bush will discuss the progress being made on the financial crisis action plan and various foreign policy issues. With Medvedev, tensions over Georgia and U.S. plans to establish missile interceptors in Eastern Europe will be among the topics for discussion, Johndroe said. With Hu, Bush will discuss international efforts to persuade North Korea to recommit to an agreement that offers it diplomatic and economic concessions in exchange for nuclear disarmament, Johndroe said. That issue also will come up in Bush's talks with the leaders of Japan and South Korea. The extensive round of talks that Bush has scheduled underscore that the president plans to use the APEC meeting to keep pushing to achieve his foreign policy goals. "This is a serious meeting. It is not a farewell," Price said. Bush has taken 47 trips to more than 70 countries during his eight years as president. The annual leaders' meeting of APEC nations began during the 1990s. The APEC nations, including emerging Asia powerhouses like China, have pushed trade as a central focus of their annual discussions given the importance trade plays in their economies. The White House officials said there would be a major push in the APEC talks to build momentum for reaching agreement by the end of December on a broad framework for the current round of global trade talks, known as the Doha round. However, analysts believe accomplishing that goal is unlikely given that most nations would prefer to wait to strike any deals with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama. ___ Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |