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Security tight for Bush visit to China

By C. M. WADE, UPI Correspondent

SHANGHAI, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Brandishing AK-47s, a platoon of stone-faced Chinese soldiers march in two-step down the waterfront of Shanghai's financial district, as startled pedestrians and tourists look on in amazement.

A camouflaged truck pulled up alongside the curb and soldiers leaped one after another into the back. An officer, hanging off the side of the vehicle, orders motorists to clear the way as it speeds away down busy city streets.

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It is a scene being repeated throughout the city. Soldiers patrol government buildings, public parks, train stations and airports -- where security personnel with bomb-sniffing dogs detain groups of passengers and search their belongings.

As Shanghai makes the final preparations for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, security in and around the city is noticeably tight. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leader's meeting, to be held from Oct. 20-21, will be the largest gathering of leaders on Chinese soil in 50 years of Communist Party rule.

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President George W. Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mexican President Vincente Fox and delegates will attend the meeting from more than 18 other nations.

Bush, who will meet Jiang for the first time, is seeking China's support for the war on terrorism America launched after hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington on Sept. 11, killing an estimated 5,600 people.

That, in itself, has raised concerns about the safety of the event's venue and the possibility that terrorists might target the city during the meetings. Few expect anything to happen, but the mere threat of a terrorist attack has prompted the Chinese government to take extra precautions.

According to Yang Guoqiang, director of the Shanghai APEC Preparatory Office, the government has stepped up security in the city following the Sept. 11 attacks and the U.S. strikes on Afghanistan.

"We have taken extra measures to ensure the security of the APEC leaders and there will be no problems here, I promise you," he said. "Leaders of the world who are planning to visit need not be concerned about safety during the summit. Everything is in place."

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Officials are also ruling out any attempt to disrupt the proceedings by anti-globalization protestors like those who demonstrated at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999 and at the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy in July.

"The Chinese government will not tolerate disruptions of social order," he said. "Protestors should not try to enter China. They will not be allowed."

The 21-member APEC grouping is viewed as more of a forum for exchanging ideas than a cohesive assembly capable of taking action on economic issues. But analysts and diplomats say the U.S.-led war against terrorism will take center-stage at the upcoming meetings.

A Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said APEC leaders are expected to endorse an anti-terrorism pact aimed at improving airport security and cracking down on international money laundering.

"APEC was created as a forum for dealing with economic issues facing the Asia-Pacific region, so the leaders will likely focus on the financial aspects," the diplomat said. "But the issue of terrorism will no doubt be on the front burner for all the leader's attending the meeting. It's a serious concern."

Recent reports have suggested that Asia, specifically the Philippines and Indonesia, may be the next theatre for the United States' war on terror.

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James Kelly, a senior U.S. diplomat, emerged Wednesday from two days of talks with Chinese officials in Beijing in preparation for President Bush's visit to Shanghai. He said in a written statement that President Bush would make anti-terrorism efforts a "top priority" during the APEC meeting.

"I am gratified that China is just as determined as the United States to rid the world of this scourge," Kelly said in the statement.

China has its own security concerns, and is hoping that any pact signed at the meeting will garner international support for harsh measures against Islamic separatists in Xinjiang, a mostly-Muslim region in the Northwest.

Human rights groups have criticized China for suppressing the region's major ethnic group, Turkic-speaking Uighurs. China has branded them terrorists and says they have been responsible for bombings and assassinations.

Besides China, Russia and the U.S., APEC also includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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