US President George W. Bush, who will arrive two days ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting slated for October 20 and 21 to kick off a package of diplomatic activities, shows he is paying much attention to the APEC gathering.

Former Chinese Ambassador to UN Qin Huasun said October 16 in Shanghai that this will be President Bush's first appearance to a top-profile meeting attended by heads of state from many countries since the "September 11" terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The gathering provides a better platform for President Bush to explain US' view on anti-terrorism and seek relevant co-operations, Qin said, adding that he believes Sino-US ties are likely to be strengthened further, as being demonstrated in the past month.

Currently, China and the US shared some common grounds on anti-terrorism, he said, noting that the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will inevitably discuss the issue of anti-terrorism with a possible statement on that matter, and China too should not avoid discussing the issue.

Qin noted that if Bush makes good use of the APEC meeting to solicit ideas from all sides, the US President is likely to win more understanding and support and help form an international coalition on anti-terrorism.

(China Daily 10/17/2001)