US Presidency
2003

And now we must apply that lesson in our own time. We've reached another great turning point and the resolve we show will shape the next stage of the world democratic movement. Our commitment to democracy is tested in countries like Cuba and Burma and North Korea and Zimbabwe outposts of oppression in our world. The people in these nations live in captivity, and fear and silence. Yet, these regimes can not hold back freedom forever and, one day, from prison camps and prison cells, and from exile, the leaders of new democracies will arrive. Communism, and militarism and rule by the capricious and corrupt are the relics of a passing era. And we will stand with these oppressed peoples until the day of their freedom finally arrives. Our commitment to democracy is tested in China. That nation now has a sliver, a fragment of liberty. Yet, China's people will eventually want their liberty pure and whole. China has discovered that economic freedom leads to national wealth.