Bush says he is 'going to continue to push for trade with China'

WASHINGTON (AFX) - President George W. Bush said he is going to continue to support expanding U.S. trade ties to China, despite the continued dispute over the E-P3 Aries spyplane and 24 crew members that remain in China after a collision with a Chinese fighter. 	    "Our message to the Chinese is we should not let this incident destabilize relations," Bush said in a question-and-answer session after a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors.	    "I am going to continue to push for trade with China," Bush said. "I believe that China ought to be a trading partner of ours. I think it is in our economic interests to open up Chinese markets to U.S. products, agricultural products," he said. 	    Bush expressed remorse that the missing Chinese pilot was after the mid-air collision.	    "I regret that a Chinese pilot is missing and I regret one of their planes was lost. Our prayers go out to the pilot and his family," Bush said.	    But he repeated that his "mission" is to bring the crew home.	    "I'm hopeful that the current situation ends quickly, and our people come home," he said.	    "The Chinese have got to act and I hope that they do so quickly.	    "My intention is to make sure we have good relations. The Chinese have to act.	    "China is a strategic competitor. But that doesn't mean we can't find areas in which we can partner. The economy is a place where we can partner," Bush said.	    Earlier, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the White House was taking "one step at a time" whether it supported extension of normal trade relations to China.	    Last year, Congress approved permanent normal trade relations with China once it joins the World Trade Organization. But final accession negotiations in Geneva have stalled and Congress could be forced to vote on a one-year extension of NTR if Beijing has not formally joined by June 3.	    "The president is taking events one step at a time," Fleischer told reporters at his daily briefing when asked whether the White House would reiterate its prior support for passage of normal trade relations with China. 

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