Hillary Clinton's tour this week spotlighted twin goals: economic and
democratic outreach.
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - The Obama
administration now has a taste of the difficult diplomacy necessary to sharpen
the focus of U.S. power on Asia, seeking investment opportunities alongside
reforms from rights-abusing governments and working with China while defending
U.S. interests.
From democratic Mongolia to
once-hostile Vietnam to long-isolated Laos, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton this week faced governments eager to embrace the United States as a
strategic counterweight to China's expanding military and economic dominance of
the region, while still lukewarm about U.S. demands for greater democracy and
rule of law.
And after meeting face to face
with China's foreign minister Thursday as she began to wrap up a weeklong tour
of Asia, Clinton lauded Washington's cooperation with Beijing even as she took
up the case of several Southeast Asian nations threatened by the Communist
government's expansive claims over the resource-rich South China Sea.
That issue was so divisive that a
regional conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in
Phnom Penh ended Thursday without even issuing a basic communique.
In their discussions as Clinton
traveled across the world's most populous continent, she and other U.S.
officials outlined their belief in greater democracy and freedom for Asian
nations.
The vision is part of a larger
Obama administration effort to change the direction of U.S. diplomacy and
commercial policy, redirecting it to the place most likely to become the center
of the global economy over the next century.
It is also a reaction to the
region's slide toward undemocratic China as its economy has boomed while the
U.S. economy has not.
"As we've traveled across
Asia, I've talked about the breadth of American engagement in this region,
especially our work to strengthen economic ties and support democracy and human
rights," Clinton told reporters Thursday. "This is all part of
advancing our vision of an open, just and sustainable regional order for the
Asia-Pacific."
The tour started in Japan, where
Clinton assured a longtime ally that the United States was committed to its
security. From there, she visited four countries in China's back yard, part of
a larger economic area that is among the world's most dynamic. Up to now,
however, China has taken the most advantage of it.
In each place, Clinton was
careful to make the case for American values alongside American business
aspirations. It's unclear, however, whether both messages were received.
In Ulan Bator, she credited
Mongolia with liberalizing economically as well as politically, holding it up
as a foil to the Chinese model of growth without freedom. And she offered
deeper U.S. partnerships with Communist governments in Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia, which have looked to Washington for fear of being swallowed up by China's
expanding power.
Clinton summed up: "We are
committed to working with China within a framework that fosters cooperation
where interests align, and manages differences where they don't."
BRADLEY KLAPPER , Associated
Press
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