US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will hold talks in China and become the first top US diplomat to visit East Timor and a Pacific island summit on an 11-day Asia trip, officials said Tuesday. Clinton's latest trip comes as the United States puts a greater focus on Asia, which has served as a key driver of economic growth and where a rising China has faced growing friction with its neighbours.
Clinton will leave Thursday for the Cook Islands to take part in the Pacific Islands Forum, leading the highest-level US delegation to the 41-year-old summit at a time that China has been increasingly active in the South Pacific. "Her visit will emphasise the depth and breadth of American engagement across economic, people-to-people, strategic, environmental and security interests," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Clinton will head September 3 to Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation which President Barack Obama's administration initially eyed as a growing US partner due to its size and democratic values. She will hold talks on September 4 and 5 in Beijing, which comes amid both friction and cautious co-operation between the world's two largest economies on issues from trade to North Korea to Syria. The talks will "cover a wide range of issues of importance in the US-China relationship as part of our efforts to build a co-operative partnership," Nuland said.
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