President Bush's Asian trip this week brought him face to face with Japanese, South Korean and Chinese leaders and exposed him directly to the problems they face. This was an important series of encounters, which gave Mr Bush an opportunity to move beyond the simplicities of the "axis of evil" formula he used to describe Iran, Iraq and North Korea in his State of the Union address last month. The apparent implication that the US is ready to move against these states in its "war against terrorism" has disquieted leaders in Asia and Europe. It is essential that Mr Bush's administration should clarify its policy directly with them. This trip was a good beginning.
Mr Bush did not repeat the contentious phrase in speeches made during the visit. He offered talks with the North Koreans and explained why he is so concerned about their military capacity and arms sales to states suspected of supporting terrorist movements. He supported the South Korean president, Mr Kim Dae Jung's "sunshine" policy of engaging the North, in a reaffirmation of the importance of dialogue. Addressing the Japanese Diet, he pledged to develop a missile-defence system to protect US allies from attack. The question must be asked whether the US genuinely believes it is possible to engage North Korea politically. On the answer could depend the peace and security of the Asian region.
In China, Mr Bush failed to make significant progress on arms proliferation, religious toleration or Taiwan but established good personal relations with current and prospective leaders. He pleased his hosts by welcoming the "emergence of a strong, peaceful and prosperous China" and used the opportunity of a nationally televised speech to advocate a much more democratic system of government there. It is unclear how far he has shifted ground from the more hard-nosed policies of his first year in office towards a more accommodating approach to China.
This may be partly because he wants to be sure of Chinese support should his administration mount an attack on Iraq in coming months. That possibility has led to the most serious public rupture between the United States and many of its European allies, who demand to be consulted and informed about US policy. As the German foreign minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, said in the Bundestag yesterday: "we note with great concern that the situation seems to be evolving in a definite direction" as regards an attack on Iraq. This dimension has ensured close worldwide coverage of Mr Bush's Asian trip this week, in an effort to clarify his intentions. A lot more political and diplomatic work is needed along those lines.
The murder by Islamic fundamentalists of Daniel Pearl, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal, demonstrates that the threat they pose for Americans and their interests is still very active. As his employers said in a statement yesterday: it is "an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything his kidnappers claim to believe in". The phenomenon of fundamentalism has to be tackled politically, as well as militarily, by addressing its root causes in poverty and backwardness, in close international co-operation.