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Skriven 2006-04-05 23:36:38 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060405b) for Wed, 2006 Apr 5
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Remarks by National Security Advisor Steve Hadley to the National Bureau of
Asian Research Strategic Asia Forum
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 5, 2006

Remarks by National Security Advisor Steve Hadley to the National Bureau of
Asian Research Strategic Asia Forum
Ritz Carlton Hotel
Washington, D.C.



MR. HADLEY: Thank you, Chairman Russell. I would also like to acknowledge
Dr. Richard Ellings, the president of NBR, and, of course, General and Mrs.
Shalikashvili.

General, it is a particular joy for us to join together to honor your
service to our nation and to thank you for your friendship. And we're also
all delighted that NBR is establishing an endowed chair in your honor.

There are a lot of other good friends and colleagues, present and past, and
I won't try and introduce them all. It's good to see you. It's a little bit
intimidating because there is an awful lot of Asia expertise out here and
I'm supposed to talk about Asia. So I hope you will be charitable in your
comments.

By geography and history, America is an Asia-Pacific power, and our
interests are mightily affected by what happens in Asia. What we've seen in
the last 50 years is Asia's emergence into global prominence. That is
generally a good thing for the United States, a good thing for Asia and a
good thing for the world. The emergence of Asia reflects the growth of
political and economic freedom among its peoples.

Fifty years ago, there were only a handful of democracies in Asia. Today,
1.7 billion people in Asia choose their own leaders, and Asia boasts two of
the world's largest democracies in India and Indonesia. Fifty years ago,
most of Asia was mired in hopeless poverty. Today, over a third of global
GDP is contributed by Asian countries and three out of the four of the
world's largest economies are in Asia.

We still face many challenges in Asia, because freedom's progress there is
incomplete. Many Asian nations have created effective democracies that
guarantee the human rights of their people and that embrace the promise of
free markets and free trade to secure their prosperity. Special attention
should be paid, of course, to Australia, Japan and South Korea, which in
many ways have led the way for the region. And a few nations, including
North Korea and Burma, have not even begun the journey along freedom's
path.

The future of Asia will depend in large measure how the rest of Asia
progresses toward political and economic freedom. The challenge for the
United States is to pursue a policy that encourages this progress. And
today I would like to discuss the administration's approach to two critical
regions, South Asia and East Asia.

Let me start with South Asia first, and let me describe a little bit the
situation as it existed in 2000. In Pakistan we saw the U.S. isolation from
Pakistan was not working. Isolation from the United States had not
prevented Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear weapons. Isolation, in fact,
facilitated the A.Q. Khan network, which was proliferating nuclear
technology to several countries around the globe. Isolation had cut off a
whole generation of Pakistanis, both civilian and military, from contact
with the United States. And this had helped to radicalize Pakistani
society. And that is why President Bush said in the 2000 campaign that in
his view, America's relationship with Pakistan was crucial to the peace of
the region.

In India, we saw in 2000 a nation transforming itself into a global player.
India was and is the world's largest democracy. While we share common
values, we share few common policies. India had begun to open up its
economy to world markets and was exploring ways to expand economic freedom.
India clearly was growing from a regional to a global player. And as the
President said in his 2000 campaign, "this coming century will see
democratic India's arrival as a force in the world."

Our strategy for the region starts with the premise that we can and must
improve relations with both of these countries simultaneously. We must
de-hyphenate our relations with India and Pakistan. The relations with one
country should not be the mirror image of our relations with the other. We
also must reject zero-sum mentality in the region. Good U.S.-Indian
relations are in the best interest of Pakistan, and good U.S.-Pakistan
relations are in the best interest of India.

We must use our increasing influence with each country to encourage them to
work out their differences, especially on such matters as Kashmir.

Our strategy with Pakistan is to encourage President Musharraf to take
steps that will integrate Pakistan into the international community and to
offer greater economic and political freedom to his people. Our strategy
with India is to build a strategic partnership and work together to solve
global problems of common interest.

In late 2001 and in the spring of 2002, we were in crisis management mode
with respect to these two countries, seeking a diplomatic alternative to
military confrontation. And then came 9/11, and we presented Pakistan with
a clear choice. And President Musharraf made the right choice. He chose to
break with the terrorists and the Taliban. He chose to act against the A.Q.
Khan network. He chose to become a strong ally in the war on terror. So we
deepened and broadened our engagement with Pakistan's government and with
the Pakistani people.

We entered into a multi-year assistance program, both economic assistance,
military assistance. For example, U.S. assistance to Pakistan has included
over $250 million for education, more than half of that for basic
education. It has created the largest Fulbright program in the world. It
has helped vaccinate 98 percent of Pakistani children under five for polio.
And it has extended more than 15,000 loans to small businesses outside of
major cities in the country.

We have constructed a more strategic relationship with India. Our effort
began in December 2003, with what we call the NSSP, or "next steps" in
strategic partnership. I can't explain how we came up with that name, but
that's what we came up with. It was designed to increase U.S.-Indian
cooperation in civil nuclear, civil space and high technology trade. But
this cooperation was matched with a commitment by India to adopt
nonproliferation measures based on international norms and conventions.

Last July, President Bush held a summit here in Washington with Prime
Minister Singh to launch our strategic partnership with India. Our two
nations agreed to work together in fighting terrorism, promoting democracy,
expanding free and fair trade, improving human health and the environment,
and meeting energy demands through new technologies.

Our cooperation included a civil nuclear cooperation initiative. This is a
real strategic achievement for both our nations. When completed, this
initiative will enhance not only India's energy security, but also our own.
Expanding civilian nuclear power can help India meet its growing energy
needs without relying so heavily on fossil fuels, which would only increase
competition for resources that are already in high demand.

It will enhance America's security, because the initiative will expand the
reach of the international nonproliferation regime by placing India's
civilian nuclear program under international safeguards, and by further
harmonizing India's export control laws with international norms.

President Bush completed an important trip to South Asia last month that
demonstrated the progress we are making with both Pakistan and India. In
Pakistan, the President underscored that our commitment to Pakistan is
broad-based, strategic and long-term, and that we support the development
of a modern, democratic and prosperous state. It outlined several areas of
cooperation for the two countries, setting an agenda going forward.

For his part, President Musharraf spoke publicly about the need for
democratic reform in his country. In India, Prime Minister Singh agreed to
a concrete plan for separating India's civilian and military nuclear
programs, and putting current programs and then future civil nuclear power
and breeder reactors under the safeguards of the International Atomic
Energy Agency.

Challenges remain in South Asia. Kashmir is a point of conflict. We will
encourage Pakistan to finally end all support for Kashmiri militants. And
we will encourage India to respond in good faith to Pakistani ideas on
Kashmir. We will use our increasing influence in South Asia to prevent a
nuclear arms race in that region.

In Pakistan, we will encourage greater democratic reform and political
freedom. We will work with President Musharraf to ensure that the 2007
elections are free and fair. With India, we will implement the civil
nuclear agreement. We will also partner effectively with India on issues of
global concern, such as Iran, proliferation, avian flu, energy, environment
and the advance of democracy.

In East Asia, the situation in the year 2000 was, of course, quite
different. China was continuing its dramatic emergence on the international
scene and was increasing -- exercising increasing weight in the region.
Some long-standing issues with our traditional allies in the region
remained unresolved and were a continuing source of frustration. Our
forward defense posture in the region did not reflect new realities,
particularly after the events of 9/11. And North Korea was already
violating the 1994 framework agreement.

Our regional strategy in East Asia is based on three basic insights. First,
our most important relations in the region are with our traditional allies,
nations that share the values of democracy and freedom. These nations are
the cornerstone of our approach to the region. You might call this approach
"working East Asia from the outside in."

We needed to resolve some long-standing irritants in our relations with
Japan and South Korea. So we are relocating our military forces out of some
urban and other sensitive areas, while at the same time reconfiguring these
forces to enhance their deterrent capability. We addressed long-standing
Japanese concerns that had prevented home porting a nuclear powered
aircraft carrier in Japan. We strengthened ties with key allies and friends
--˙Mongolia˙in Northeast Asia, and Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand˙in Southeast Asia.

Second, we are working with our partners in East Asia to develop
cooperative and creative approaches to regional and global challenges. Let
me give you a few examples. We have extensive cooperation with many Asian
nations in the global war on terrorism. We developed a response to the 2004
tsunami that allowed us and our partners to respond to the needs of the
most devastated countries more quickly than international relief agencies.
We established the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and
Climate that is focusing on practical ways to make best practices and the
latest energy technologies available to all of the countries.

Third, we welcomed the rise of a China that is a responsible stakeholder in
the international system; a China that cooperates with us to address common
challenges and mutual interests. To this end, we are pursuing a policy that
reflects the complexity of our relationship with China. We have supported
China's membership in the World Trade Organization. We've encouraged China
to use its influence through the six party talks to help denuclearize the
Korean Peninsula. We have included China in our efforts to expand our
sources of secure and environmental responsible energies, such as clean
coal technologies, nuclear power and hydrogen fuel cells.

We have made clear to Chinese leaders, however, that they must change
policies that exacerbate tensions in East Asia and the world, such as their
non-transparent military expansion; their quest to lock up energy supplies,
rather than participate in energy markets; and their support of
resource-rich countries with poor records of democracy and human rights.

This month's visit from President Hu will reveal more about China's
commitment to being a responsible stakeholder in the international system.
If China wishes to become a more responsible stakeholder, it should move
from a half-reformed economy to a more fully marketized system, by opening
China's markets to U.S. goods, and respecting intellectual property rights,
and by moving toward a flexible, market-based currency.

If China wishes to become a more responsible stakeholder, China should also
match its expansion of economic freedom with an expansion of political
freedom for the Chinese people. Chinese leaders need to see that they
cannot let their population increasingly experience the freedom to buy,
sell and produce, while denying them the right to assemble, speak and
worship.

China would do well to implement policies to correct its global trade
imbalances, through expanding domestic demand, increasing market access for
foreign goods and services, and adopting a flexible, market-based exchange
rate for its currency.

There are other long-term challenges in East Asia. As an Asia Pacific
nation, we must support regional economic integration through expanded
trade and investment, and the promotion of democracy and human rights.
Regional exchanges, such as the APEC forum, the ASEAN regional forum, the
U.S.-ASEAN Enhanced Partnership and the six-party talks will all play a
vital role.

We must encourage China and our six-party partners to press North Korea to
implement the September 19, 2005 joint statement on Korean
denuclearization, a document produced in the six-party talks so that the
people of the Korean peninsula have a future that is free of nuclear
weapons. And we must broaden discussion of Northeast Asia's security issues
beyond just North Korea.

We believe we are making progress in both South Asia and East Asia, and
increasingly we need to move away from thinking of these as two separate
regions, but as part of an increasingly integrated Asian whole. Our
approach to this emerging Asia is to promote political and economic freedom
in all nations. We have resisted the temptation of crude balance-of-power
politics, seeking to play India off against China, for example. Both these
nations need to be constructive players in the international system, and
the United States can and should have constructive relations with each.

Some people have said the 21st century will be the Asian century. The
President believes the 21st century will be freedom's century. And
together, free Asians and free Americans will seize the opportunities this
new century offers, and lays the foundations for future peace and
prosperity in Asia.

Thank you. I'd be very happy to answer some questions and hear some
comments from some of the collective expertise in this room. (Applause.)

END

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