East Asia and the Bush Victory

摘要

Never before has a u.s. presidential election so absorbed the leaders of Asia as did this one. A new President would have affected the prospects for the security and the economies of Asia. Asia's main concern is security. So strong was the conviction that George W. Bush was the leader to counter the threats from Islamist terrorists, North Korea's nuclear weapons and a possible war with China if Taiwan moves toward independence that Japan's and Australia's prime ministers, Junichiro Koizumi and John Howard, ignored diplomatic niceties and publicly declared, before the election, their strong support for the President Many other Asian leaders privately shared these views but observed diplomatic reticence. Whatever reservations Muslim leaders in Indonesia and Malaysia had, they knew dearly where President Bush stood on key issues.