State Department Noon Briefing

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2001 1:00 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

Q: Can you say a little bit more about the US delegations that are
being - going off to Asia and Europe and other parts of the world to
talk about the ABM Treaty and missile defense?

MR. REEKER: Following on to what the President said in his speech
yesterday, as the President announced, he is dispatching high-level
officials, and that includes Richard Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of
State; Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense; and Steve
Hadley, the Deputy National Security Advisor, to allied capitals to
consult with our friends in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, on issues
related to strategic stability and missile defense.

Details of the individual consultation teams and schedules will be
forthcoming, but I do expect them to begin that travel the first of
next week in terms of departure from Washington. Deputy Secretary
Armitage will be traveling to Asia to discuss these matters, and he
will also be able to include key bilateral issues in his talks there.
He will be in Japan from the 7th through 8th of May, in South Korea
from the 9th through the 10th, and in India May 11th, and then we
expect him to return to the United States around May 12th - keeping
in mind that all of these schedules and itineraries could fluctuate
slightly.

Q: (Inaudible?)

MR. REEKER: Mr. Kelly - our Assistant Secretary of State for East
Asia and Pacific Affairs, James Kelly, will travel separately to
Australia for similar discussions the 11th through the 13th of May,
and he is also going to stop in Singapore.

And in addition, I will just add, since we are on travel, that then
Assistant Secretary Kelly will go on to Vietnam May 16th through 18th
as part of a senior officials meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum. He
may also stop in China for discussions related to missile defense, and
then return to Washington around the 18th of May. But again, all of
those things and details need to be worked out.

Q: Is the stop in China conditional on something? You say "may"? Is it
because the plan isn't in place yet, or because China has to do
something?

MR. REEKER: Again, I think we have to work out travel details for
officials, and their itineraries and schedules are still being worked
out, Barry.

Q: So it's not contingent on any particular Chinese action?

MR. REEKER: Schedules aren't set yet, Barry, and I don't have
information on people's scheduling.

Q: No, no. But I'm wondering why it's not set. I mean, China's not --

MR. REEKER: Because schedules take a while to work out, and we --

Q: I know, but if you want to go to China, you know you're going, and
then you say we don't know what day, but we're going to China.

MR. REEKER: We'll get back to you, Barry, with details on that once it
is worked out.

On the European side, I would just note that Deputy Secretary of
Defense Wolfowitz and Deputy National Security Advisor Hadley will
lead the consultation team going to Europe. Under Secretary of State
for Political Affairs Marc Grossman will be along with that team, and
they are going to begin their consultations, we expect at NATO
headquarters, where they can brief and consult with our 18 NATO Allies
on Tuesday, the 8th of May. Then they will visit several European
capitals during the rest of the week, and I just don't have a complete
fix yet on their schedules either.

Q: What about Moscow? Are they going to stop in Moscow?

MR. REEKER: I believe we had talked about a stop in Moscow as well,
but I just don't have a fix on all those details yet.

Q: Why is the State Department taking the lead on countries across the
Pacific? And it seems that the Pentagon would be taking the lead on
the countries across the Atlantic.

MR. REEKER: I don't think anybody should read anything particular into
that. You have a finite number of senior officials at the deputy level
dispatched by the President, and so the Deputy Secretary of State is
going west across the Pacific, the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the
Deputy National Security Advisor are going east across the Atlantic.
There are a greater number of countries in that direction to brief. So
they have just split it up that way, and will come back and report
back to their respective Secretaries.

Q: China still? Do we have any update on resident citizens meetings,
calls for release --

MR. REEKER: Are we off the missile defense and with the travel
questions?

Q: How would you assess the reaction to President Bush's speech
yesterday? Have you had any official complaints, or has the reaction
just come to you mostly through the press?

MR. REEKER: I wouldn't want to make an assessment. I have read press
reporting, both domestically and internationally, and obviously we
look at those things and will be talking to leaders. I think the first
step will be these teams that go out and start their meetings next
week to consult.

For his part in the meeting with the Secretary this morning, I believe
Foreign Minister Fischer said that the German Government looks forward
to the consultations that will take place in Europe next week.

Q: Mr. Fischer also said that he felt the ABM was basically a good
thing and shouldn't be abandoned unless you had something - a better
alternative to replace it. What's your response to that?

MR. REEKER: I think you have all heard what the President had to say
in terms of trying to look beyond something like the ABM, which has
looked to the past. I think we will let these teams go out and consult
and get back to us. This is an ongoing process. The Secretary talked
about that. He clearly said with the end of the Cold War, as the
President reiterated yesterday, we need to find new ways to keep the
peace. The constraints of the ABM Treaty, which is 30 years old,
obviously point to the need for new concepts and different
capabilities in the dangerous, complex world we live in, where there
are new proliferation threats.

So we are going to send out these teams; they are going to consult,
just as the President described; and then they are going to come back
and we will continue from there.

Q: I don't really expect an answer to this, but I will put it anyway.
How much weight did you give to the opinions of these other people?
It's rather very hard to gauge from what the President said whether
this consultation process is just for show or whether you are really
interested in hearing what they have to say and will take into account
when you --

MR. REEKER: I will let you do the gauging of that, but I would suggest
that the President was quite firm in saying, and I quote, "These will
be real consultations. We are not presenting our friends and allies
with unilateral decisions already made. We look forward to hearing
their views, the views of our friends, and to take them into account."

So with that, he dispatched high-level envoys who will go to Europe,
to Asia. They are leaving next week, as we discussed, and it is an
ongoing process of consultations. So I think the President was really
quit direct about that.

Q: Well, would you say that these are consultations in the way of
trying to convince our allies that it is necessary to abrogate the
ABM, or are you generally taking into account their concerns that we
should stick to the ABM?

MR. REEKER: Your colleague, I think, answered perhaps prematurely.

Look, these are consultations about all of those things to amplify on
the themes that the President discussed, and I would just point you to
his speech. We would be happy to get you the videotape should you need
it, and copies of that.

I think he was very clear on where we are coming from and what we are
looking at in terms of the need for new approaches, the need for
rethinking certain aspects of strategy; the fact that the ABM Treaty
perpetuates relationships that were based on distrust and the need for
a new framework to make a break with the past; the fact that the
dangers that we face, not just the United States, but our allies, our
friends, are less certain, less predictable than they were at the time
of the ABM Treaty's creation; and that the threats we face continue to
be from nuclear as well as chemical and biological weapons and missile
technology.

So all of those things will be discussed so they have a clear view of
where we are coming from with this, and so that we can hear their
views and their concerns, and then continue a consultative process on
that.

....

Q: Can we go back to ABM? In the context of Russia, as far as I know,
you haven't actually outlined any framework of how you intend to
proceed with the discussions with Russia on the subject of ABM. And is
it the Administration's intention to start negotiations with Russia or
--

MR. REEKER: I think it is far too premature until our team has gone
out there.

....

Q: As for the President's missile defense system initiative is
concerned, if Secretary had spoken with anybody, any world leaders, or
he got any comments, especially from China or Russia?

MR. REEKER: The Secretary spoke with the Foreign Minister of Germany
this morning and, as I pointed out, discussed that. I am not aware of
any other calls on this particular subject that the Secretary has
made, but obviously the consultations teams will go out and do exactly
what the President instructed them to do.

Q: But the US shifted from Russia to China, but do you know that later
on this - in the next few months Russia and China are going to sign
-- I think it's kind of friendship treaty? So how US will deal with
this kind of --

MR. REEKER: I think the President talked at great length about ideas
for our relationship with Russia in terms of leaving behind the Cold
War structures and mindsets that existed for so many years. We have
talked also about our relationship with China and where we would like
to try to pursue positive relations, but where we will also raise
issues of concern to us. So I think countries of the world all have
their own relations, and we have relations with each of them, and we
will continue to pursue diplomacy for what is in the best interest of
the United States, for our citizens, and for peace and prosperity and
promoting our values abroad.

Thank you.