SIEM REAP, Cambodia: Hillary Clinton flew out of Asia on
Saturday after a trip dominated by significantly warmer ties with Myanmar as
Washington looks to open the resource-rich former pariah to US firms.
The US Secretary of State held
landmark talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein on Friday at a major business
conference in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap, two days after the US gave the
green light to investment in the country, including in oil and gas.
Clinton hailed changes in Myanmar
as it emerges from nearly half a century of army rule and insisted that
Washington had put in place "protections to ensure that increased American
investment advances the reform process".
US firms will have to report on
accountability issues, but rights groups have raised concerns that Washington
is moving too fast to cash in on Myanmar's huge business potential.
Clinton's southeast Asian tour
also included a regional security forum, as the US seeks to bolster Asian alliances
to balance China's might, while avoiding overly antagonising Beijing.
On Thursday Clinton and her
Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi pledged to work more closely together.
The US Secretary of State sought
to avoid being drawn into a host of maritime territorial spats between Beijing
and many of its neighbours, but did express alarm at the potential for
escalating tensions.
The US called this week for the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc to unify to negotiate with China,
but deep splits among member states saw the group's regional summit end in
failure to agree a joint statement.
Clinton on Saturday will head to
Cairo, where she is due to hold talks with the country's new President Mohamed
Morsi, after he locked horns with the powerful military.
Earlier this week Clinton urged
dialogue between all parties amid wrangling between Egypt's new civilian leader
and the generals who took charge after president Hosni Mubarak's overthrow
early last year.
The Egyptian people should
"get what they protested for and what they voted for, which is a
fully-elected government making the decisions for the country going
forward", she added.
Morsi on Wednesday said he would
respect a court ruling overturning his decree for the dissolved
Islamist-dominated parliament to convene.
- AFP/wm
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