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Skriven 2006-11-18 23:31:06 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0611182) for Sat, 2006 Nov 18
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President Bush Meets with Prime Minister Abe of Japan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 18, 2006

President Bush Meets with Prime Minister Abe of Japan
The Sheraton Hanoi
Hanoi, Vietnam


˙˙˙˙˙ APEC 2006

12:47 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time. We
just had a very frank and full discussion. I admire the Prime Minister's
intellect, I'm very comfortable with his style, and I'm very confident
we'll be able to work together for the common good.

The relationship between Japan and the United States is strong and we will
keep it that way. And a strong relationship between our two countries is
good for the security of the East. We talked a lot of issues. And we spent
time talking about North Korea and our common commitment to see that the
six-party talks succeed. We spent a lot of time talking about bilateral
issues. And one of the most interesting issues we discussed was our common
desire to continue to cooperate on ballistic missile defense.

I told the Prime Minister he needs to get over to the United States
quickly. I'm looking forward to hosting him. And thank you for your time.

PRIME MINISTER ABE: (As translated.) I was able to spend a very meaningful
and wonderful time with the President today. So thank you very much, Mr.
President.

Japan and U.S. share an alliance which is based on fundamental values, such
as freedom, democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law. And we
agreed with each other that strengthening our alliance would be a good in
maintaining peace and security of not just Japan and the region surrounding
Japan, but the entire world.

Also concerning North Korea, as the President mentioned, we agreed that we
would take a coordinated approach to reach a final resolution of the issue,
and also to achieve some concrete results at an early stage. We also agreed
to strengthen and accelerate our cooperation concerning ballistic missile
defense, and we will instruct our foreign ministers and defense ministers
to conduct consideration concerning this matter.

We are faced with many difficult issues, like North Korea, the fight
against terror, and also Iraq. But we agreed that we will be utilizing the
alliance we have between Japan and the United States for the good of the
world and the region (inaudible).

I'm looking forward to visiting the United States sometime next year and
seeing the President. Thank you.

END 12:52 P.M. (Local)
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