Beijing - US President George W Bush on Saturday expressed deep "concern" concerning the fighting between Georgian and Russia troops in the South Ossetian crisis.

"The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis," Bush said, speaking in the Chinese capital Beijing where he attended the Olympic opening ceremonies on Friday.

Bush called on the two sides to resolve the regional issue peacefully, adding that Georgia was a sovereign nation whose territorial integrity needed to be respected.

Beijing - US President George W Bush pressed China to improve its human rights record on Friday, as he began a four-day visit on which he was scheduled to hold talks with the Chinese president and attend the Olympic opening ceremony.

In a speech early Friday at the opening of a new US embassy building in Beijing, Bush said both sides should "continue to be candid about our belief that all people should have the freedom to say what they think and worship as they choose."

Bangkok - US President George W Bush said Thursday that he would take up the Myanmar problem with China, one of the few countries that has any influence over the cloistered military state formerly known as Burma, dissidents said.

"He is going to talk with China about Burma, even though he seems to be worried that China's interests are different from the US's interest on Burma," said Win Min, one of a handful of Thailand-based Myanmar dissidents who lunched with Bush Thursday in Bangkok.

Bangkok - US President George W Bush said Thursday that he was "optimistic" about China's future, predicting that political change was inevitable in the wake of its economic takeoff.

"Young people who grow up with the freedom to trade goods will ultimately demand the freedom to trade ideas, especially on an unrestricted internet," Bush said in Bangkok in his last major policy speech on US-Asian relations. "Change in China will arrive on its own terms and in keeping with its own history and traditions. Yet change will arrive."

Islamabad, Aug 6 : Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is expected to leave for China today to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on Friday, and he is likely to meet US President George W Bush.

According to a statement issued by the country’s Foreign Office, leaders from several countries had confirmed their participation and Musharraf would have the opportunity to meet them on the sidelines of the opening ceremony.

Seoul - US President George W Bush met Wednesday in Seoul with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and called for North Korea to meet its denuclearization pledge.

"I'm concerned about its uranium enrichment activities as well as its nuclear testing and proliferation, its ballistic missile programs," Bush at a news conference after meeting with Lee.

"The best way to approach and answer those concerns is for there to be strong verification measures," Bush said.