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Secretary Clinton’s Joint Press Availability with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara

Posted in Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, Secretary of State Travel, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , on October 28, 2010| 2 Comments »

N.B. To the curious or impatient. Department of State has not posted a public schedule today. That is the reason I have not posted one. Sorry. It is beyond my control.

Joint Press Availability with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Kahala Hotel and Resort
Honolulu, HI
October 27, 2010

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you very much. We just had a very comprehensive, far-ranging discussion on many issues of concern to the United States and Japan, and I want to thank my colleague and counterpart, the foreign minister. It is a pleasure to be back in Hawaii and an even greater pleasure to be hosting the foreign minister here in Honolulu. I appreciate very much his willingness to take the long trip from Japan to be here.

And it is a fitting venue to continue the productive discussions that I began with the foreign minister in New York last month. This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our alliance, which was forged at the height of the Cold War. At the time, President Eisenhower described the indestructible partnership between our two countries, and time has proven him right. The world’s geopolitical landscape has shifted many times since then, but the partnership between the United States and Japan has endured because it is based on deep friendship between our people, on mutual respect, and on common goals and values.

This alliance is the cornerstone of American strategic engagement in the Asia Pacific. It has helped both countries prosper and weather economic storms. It has underwritten peace and security, and it has allowed us to cooperate on a range of global issues, including nuclear nonproliferation, climate change, combating violent extremism, and I’m grateful that we are the two largest contributors to reconstruction in Afghanistan.

We are also cooperating on the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding North Korea and Iran. Last month, the United States welcomed the sanctions that Japan imposed on Iran. They underscored the resolve of the international community to support a global sanctions regime aimed at countering Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Joining likeminded nations around the world, Japan has emphasized the message that Tehran must meet its international responsibilities.

The foreign minister and I consulted on base realignment issues and the replacement facility at Futenma. The goal of our two governments remains unchanged: Both countries want an arrangement that is operationally viable and politically sustainable. That means the United States will reduce the impact of our bases on host communities while at the same time maintaining the capabilities that we need to meet our commitment to defend Japan and the Japanese people and the security of the region. We look forward to working with the Government of Japan to build local support for a final plan for the replacement facility.

The foreign minister and I also discussed Japan’s leadership role as host of APEC 2011. As you know, the United States will be hosting APEC in 2012 – or in 2011, so we are working closely to coordinate our agendas. The President is looking very much forward to being in Japan for the APEC meetings.

We are looking beyond our governments, touching on joint efforts to increase people-to-people connections, especially student exchanges, and we are looking also to build on what we signed just recently, a memorandum of understanding for an open skies agreement. Under this initiative, airlines rather than governments will decide which cities to serve, establish flight schedules, and set fares.

Finally, the foreign minister and I discussed among other issues one that is of particular importance for parents and children in both countries. The Japanese Government is taking steps toward ratifying the Hague Convention on International Parental Child Abduction and enhancing parents’ basic visitation rights. I am encouraged by this progress.

So I thank the minister for a two-hour meeting that was in-depth and very focused on deepening and broadening our relationship. I look forward to continuing to work with him, and I am confident that together we can help to improve the lives of the people of our countries as well as the larger region. So with that, let me turn it over, please, to the foreign minister.

FOREIGN MINISTER MAEHARA: (Via interpreter) Thank you very much, Secretary Clinton. Well, both of us later on actually will be meeting again in Hanoi, but I believe it is quite meaningful that we have been able to have this meeting for two hours here in Hawaii to engage in wide-ranging discussions to strengthen Japan-U.S. relations and to engage in this very fruitful discussion. And I believe this, I believe, was very good for not just Japan and the United States but for the further stability and development of the region as a whole.

If I could give you the gist of the Japan – or the purpose of the Japan-U.S. foreign ministers meeting is that here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii, we were able to discuss a firm commitment of the United States for the political and security conditions in the Asia Pacific and as the United States will be participating in East Asia Summit we, Japan and the United States, were able to show that we will remain in close coordination with each other on political and security matters in the region and together we’ll work on various matters. And we were able to discuss specifics of these, so it was quite fruitful.

The second point I would like to make is that, as the Secretary mentioned earlier, this year Japan is the chair of APEC and next year the United States will take over the chair. And we were able to exchange views in preparation for the Japan-U.S. summit meeting to take place. And I think in that respect as well we had a very fruitful meeting. And as I mentioned earlier, as the two countries remain closely coordinated on – for the peace and prosperity of the region, I think we confirmed that it will be very important to engage mutually in various discussions.

Now, earlier Prime Minister Kan and President Obama had a meeting in New York on security – on the three pillars of security, the economy, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. And they agreed that they will build a Japan-U.S. alliance, strengthen bilateral economic dialogue, and promote partnership on high-speed railways and clean energy and so on, and also maintain close coordination with each other to promote mutual understanding and exchanges at various levels. And especially with regard to Japan-U.S. security cooperation, in the consultations so far on deepening the alliance we have engaged in discussions on security environment assessment and on cooperation in very specific areas, and they confirmed to further strengthen such endeavors.

And I also stated to Secretary Clinton that we should like to engage in deeper consultations in order to realize a smooth bilateral cooperation for the defense of Japan and in the case of contingencies in areas surrounding Japan. And also I explained – I gave an account of the ongoing discussions in Japan for the purpose of formulating the basic policy concerning comprehensive economic partnerships.

President Obama’s visit to Japan on the occasion of the APEC meetings in Yokohama will be a good opportunity for the two leaders to confirm the specific direction of the deepening of Japan-U.S. alliance at the leaders level, and we confirmed to further accelerate our preparations for the success of this visit.

We also engaged in candid discussions on UN Security Council reform, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, and agreed to further step up Japan-U.S. cooperation on a broad range of issues. I look forward to having – meeting with Secretary Clinton as often as possible and engaging in further discussions and build up close cooperation with each other and together with us would like to build up stability and prosperity of the Asia Pacific region. Thank you very much.

MODERATOR: Arshad Mohammed of Reuters.

QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology today issued a statement saying that they will not use rare earth elements as a bargaining tool. Do you have any reaction to that in particular? Did you raise the issue or did you discuss the issue of rare earth metals with the foreign minister? Do you plan to raise it when you meet State Councilor Dai Bingguo in – on Hainan Island in a couple of days? And do you regard the rare earths issue as what may be the latest in a series of examples of Chinese, perhaps, bullying behavior towards its neighbors, and is there anything that the United States and Japan should try to do to insulate themselves from such behavior?

 

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, the foreign minister and I did discuss the issue of rare earth minerals. These are elements that are critical to the industrial production not only in Japan and the United States but in countries around the world. I hadn’t heard about the Chinese statement of today, but I would welcome any clarification of their policy and hope that it means trade and commerce around these important materials will continue unabated and without any interference.

At the same time, because of the importance of these rare earth minerals, I think both the minister and I are aware that our countries and others will have to look for additional sources of supply. That is in our interests commercially and strategically; it makes sense because these are rare, by definition, but they are present in other countries. And this served as a wakeup call that being so dependent on only one source, disruption could occur for natural disaster reasons or other kinds of events could intervene. So we welcome the Chinese statement that it will resume normal trading in these materials, but I think the entire world has to seek additional supplies in order to protect the important production needs that these materials serve.

MODERATOR: Our next two questions will be from Mr. Deguchi of Kyodo News.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) (Inaudible) Deguchi with Kyodo News Service. First a question for Secretary Clinton, and this is about security. Recently – this is about Senkaku Islands, which has (inaudible) spat between Japan and China. And I wonder if the security treaty between Japan and the United States will be applied.

And also, this region, and I believe the Japanese Government has stated time and again that the alliance has played an important role for the security of the region, but Japan’s (inaudible) report has continued (inaudible) for the past ten years. Would you expect the level of Japanese support to remain at the same level or increase?

A question for Foreign Minister Maehara in the economic area. You have to date spoken positively about Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Strategic and Economic Partnership, so-called TPP. Having had a meeting today with the U.S., which has already announced its participation in TPP, could you tell us your thoughts at the moment?

And an additional question for Secretary Clinton. Would you welcome Japan’s participation in TPP talks?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first let me say clearly again that the Senkakus fall within the scope of Article 5 of the 1960 U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. This is part of the larger commitment that the United States has made to Japan’s security. We consider the Japanese-U.S. alliance one of the most important alliance partnerships we have anywhere in the world and we are committed to our obligations to protect the Japanese people.

And the host nation support is one of Japan’s key contributions to this alliance that has helped to maintain stability and security in East Asia for decades. The U.S. and Japan negotiating teams met for the second time this month to discuss the host nation support arrangements between the two governments, and these discussions are proceeding in a very positive and constructive manner.

FOREIGN MINISTER MAEHARA: (Via interpreter) I understand there was a question about TPP. As I have been saying for some time, in this growing world we have this outstanding technology and products that are the culmination of such technologies, and if we are to more broadly sell these technologies and products, we need to reduce tariffs as much as possible, in other words, engage in as free as possible trade, because that will be very important for Japan itself.

At the same time, as the chair of APEC this year, in interest of achieving the Bogor Goals and also in the interest of achieving liberal trade amongst APEC participating countries as a whole, it is very important for us to try and figure out the way towards that goal. Now, if we are to participate in TPP, we will need to work out coordination – it will be very important to work out coordination with each and every participating country in TPP. With Chile, Peru, or Singapore, Japan already has agreements, free trade agreements and we’re negotiating one with Australia. And with United States, most important country not just political and security but in economic areas as well, together with the United States we shall – we have been able to confirm that we will cooperate with each other. And to that end, we will therefore in the government, with the ruling party at the core, would like to finalize Japan’s policy ahead of APEC meetings.

MODERATOR: Mark Landler, New York Times.

SECRETARY CLINTON: We would encourage and welcome Japan’s interest.

MODERATOR: It’ll come on automatically.

QUESTION: A question for both of you. You’ve mentioned you talked about the Senkakus issue. You mentioned that you talked about the rare earth issue. I’m wondering whether this doesn’t in some way add up to a recognition that the landscape that you talked about at the beginning, the security landscape in Asia, may be changing in a more fundamental way with China both economically, politically, and militarily playing a bigger, more muscle-flexing role than it has historically. And if that’s the case, do you need to think more creatively about what to do about security alliances in the region? I just wonder whether that was part of the discussion today.

And then more specifically, Madam Secretary, to follow up on Arshad, do you plan to bring up the rare earth issue specifically with Minister Dai? Would you be asking him for clarification?

And then lastly, the decision to add Hainan – you know I always ask three. (Laughter.) The decision to add Hainan Island at the last minute to your itinerary, do you worry at all that it risks sending a signal of acquiescence on the U.S. side that you’re going to meet the Chinese on their turf at their request? Is that the kind of signal that’s appropriate to send at a time like this?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first of all, I think that the security environment is always evolving. The security environment of 2010 is not the security environment of 1960. Part of the durability of our alliance is that we have evolved over time without losing the core commitment that exists between the United States and Japan to support the stability and the peaceful cooperation in East Asia that has proven so successful for countries, including China, to take advantage of the opportunity to become more prosperous and to improve the lives of their people.

But this core alliance between Japan and the United States is absolutely imperative when it comes to what we can expect in terms of shaping the security environment, and we intend to not only remain committed to it but make sure that it keeps up with the demands that it faces.

Now, the relationship between Japan and China is a key relationship, and we want that relationship to be a positive one. And we encourage the kind of dialogue that is going on between Japan and China. Prime Minister Kan met with Premier Wen in Brussels. They will both continue the dialogue in the future. We’ll all be together in Hanoi. So I think that this is part of the ongoing discussion that is necessary.

At the same time, we believe that there will be new challenges and new ways of thinking about those challenges that require us to deepen our dialogue, which is what the minister and I discussed and what President Obama will further discuss when he is in Yokohama. We need to be looking at all kinds of scenarios, all kinds of contingencies, work through responses to events that might occur in the future, and of course, stay focused on the threat posed from North Korea.

 

So I don’t see that this is anything other than smart planning and careful analysis about how we can be even more effective together. Recent events certainly throw it into the headlines, but we work every day with our friends and partners in Japan.

With respect to the dialogue with State Councilor Dai Bingguo, we have an ongoing dialogue and there was an opportunity for us to meet in preparation for President Hu Jintao’s visit which is going to occur in January, which is not very far from now, and therefore there is a lot of work that has to be done. We have a long list of issues to discuss. The information Arshad gave me about the statement from the Chinese Government today on rare earth minerals may shorten that discussion, but there is a lot to talk about in preparation for a state visit by President Hu Jintao.

FOREIGN MINISTER MAEHARA: (Via interpreter) There was a question about the Senkaku Islands and rare earth minerals. As I have been saying, Senkaku Islands, in terms of history and international law, are inherent territory of Japan and have – we have had (inaudible) control over the islands and will continue to do so.

Today, Secretary Clinton repeated that the Senkaku Islands would fall within the scope of the application of Article 5 of the bilateral security treaty. That was very encouraging. But of course, in the first instance, I think it is important for a country to defend its territory by itself. But through Japan-U.S. cooperation, not just in the interest of Japan’s security but for the region’s security, we shall continue to make our efforts. Today, we discussed that (inaudible) cautiously but closely cooperate on security situation in the region and we confirmed this, so we look forward to continuing to do so in the days ahead as well.

Now, Japan-China relations. Of course, Japan and China are neighbors and neither of the neighbors can move elsewhere. In fact, Japan and China became equals in terms of GDP. We are both number two economic powers in the world. And seen from the Japanese side, China is the number one importer and China is number one exporting country. And from – for the Chinese, it is – the largest imports come from Japan and the largest exports go to the United States. So we are both number ones and number two mutually, and so economically we are in a close economic interdependence with each other. So we need to take broader perspectives in order to further nurture our bilateral mutual beneficial relationship based on strategic interest and will continue to make efforts in that interest.

With regard to the rare earth minerals, as Secretary Clinton stated earlier, even if this problem did not exist, to rely for 97 percent of the – these resources on China, as we look back, was certainly not appropriate and therefore we have to diversify the sources of rare earth minerals. And here again, Japan and the United States will closely cooperate with each other in order to engage in more diversified rare earth minerals diplomacy.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you all.

 

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Glimpses into Secretary Clinton’s Day: Snippets from the Press Briefing

Posted in Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Well, in the run-up to the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, the photogenic SOS was off-camera today.  P.J. Crowley’s press briefing gives us some further insight into her day.  Here are some snippets.  I know it is P.J.’s briefing, but knowing the readers here, you are probably  in need of a Hillary-fix, so I suppose no one will mind that instead of P.J.’s picture, I have embedded a few featuring his lovely boss – this one.

Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
June 2, 2010

MR. CROWLEY: Good afternoon and welcome to the Department of State. Several things to talk about before taking your questions. In about an hour’s time, the Secretary will meet with Indian Education Minister Kapil Sibal as we begin to get into – engaged in the India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue. And they’ll discuss U.S.-Indian cooperation in higher education and increasing our people-to-people ties. Education is a key component of our partnership with India, a key to meeting the demands of the 21st century economy.

Snip

Also today, the Secretary a while ago met with 17 civil society activists from the Middle East and North Africa, the Leaders of Democracy Fellows. This is a program under our Middle East Partnership Initiative, or our MEPI. It’s a three-month program that the U.S. provides to young civic and democratic reform leaders from the region. They have an opportunity to complete academic coursework at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and complete a professional assignment with a political, nongovernmental, or public policy organization here in Washington. And this year’s cohort is a diverse group representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Syria, Tunisia, the West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.

With the SOS busy behind the scenes, P.J. provided the only statements regarding events … um… The Event … in Japan yesterday and its implications (or not) in relation to the agreement Secretary Clinton managed to get last week in Japan.

QUESTION: With the Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama resigning yesterday over the Futenma issue, he apologized for not being able to handle this issue very well. So that the two governments just made an agreement last week, right? So the U.S. is kind of involved in this political situation. So how do you see this political change in Japan, and what kind of influence will you get?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, we respect the Japanese political process and Prime Minister Hatoyama’s decision. We will work closely with the Government of Japan and the next prime minister on a broad range of issues. And I think today the chief cabinet secretary stated that the Futenma agreement will be respected, given that it is a government-to-government agreement, and we share this expectation.

Yeah.

QUESTION: According to a recent poll, 80 percent of Okinawan people opposed to this relocation to Camp Schwab. And as you know, as I said, the Japanese prime minister resigned because of this. So it’s not supported by the Japanese people. So how can you still say it’s political – still politically sustainable?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, I mean, we value the U.S.-Japan security alliance. We think that the presence of U.S. forces in the region, including in Japan, is of tremendous importance and of value to both of our countries. We – and I think that’s – the importance of our presence in the region and the U.S.-Japanese alliance is underscored by current tensions in Northeast Asia. So we have, we believe, reached a fair resolution that sustains the alliance. We understand the burden that this places on the Japanese people. As part of our agreement, we have pledged to do everything that we can to help manage the impact that this has, particularly on the people of Okinawa. This will be something that we continue to work closely with the Japanese Government, but as we indicated, we think we’ve reached a resolution of this relocation plan and we will work with Japan to carry it out.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) considering the prime minister has resigned in response to this agreement, don’t you think this has damaged the alliance, this agreement?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, I mean, I’ll leave it to the prime minister to explain the circumstances under which he felt it important to resign. And our alliance is about much more than just the future of Futenma. But this is an important issue, but it’s only – it’s one of a number of – wide range of issues and common interests that the United States and Japan share. We will continue to work on this program with the Japanese Government.

QUESTION: As you said, there has been an agreement on Futenma, but there are no – the elections are now planned for July, I think, in Japan. Do you feel that the issue might come back during the campaign?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, that’s one of the reasons why we worked closely with the government over a number of months. It was a very thorough review. Everyone went back over all of the details, and I think the Japanese Government came to reaffirm that this new plan, a modification of the plan that it inherited, was the best way forward. We think we’ve – with some technical details still to be worked out, we think that this is the best way forward and we’re going to continue to work this with the Government of Japan.

So those are some notes from the day. Tomorrow promises to be busy, exciting, and LONG! I will do my best to keep you posted. Hillary will host a big state dinner. I wonder what she will wear? (We LOVE the midnight blue gown.)

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On Hillary Clinton’s Silence Re: the Oil Disaster

Posted in Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , on May 28, 2010| 19 Comments »

If there are people who find the silence deafening, there are some reasons why we are not hearing from Hillary Clinton on the subject of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

First and foremost, she is not POTUS.  People should not complain about her not doing something they failed to hire her to do.  In 2007 and 2008, Hillary told us of many things she would do if we hired her.  I, personally, voted to hire her,  but she did not get the job!

Second, she has been a little busy lately:

  • The Japanese decided NOT to press us to move the Futenma base thanks to her.

  • She managed to get a U.S.A. Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo built, staffed, opened.

  • She has been trying to convince China to support a strong North Korea sanction.
  • She has been supporting our ally, South Korea.

  • She spent the better part of a week getting Hamid Karzai back under our tent and away from the Taliban.
  • For the past month, she has been the leader of the U.S. delegation to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference.

This conference ended about a half hour ago, and her meeting this morning with Ambassador Rice had everything to do with her position as chief of that delegation since that Treaty hit some rough spots, and we still have no news of whether the final draft was approved.  Read about that here.

UN nuclear conference gets last-minute draft statement

**UPDATE** The State Department just posted the highlights of the adopted treaty document.

Now directly prior to attending the opening of that conference, she appeared on Meet the Press and she did speak about offshore drilling then.   You can see her remarks on video at that link.  However, since that appearance she has been a bit busy doing the job she DID get, and doing it very well.

So if she’s silent on the Gulf disaster (in fairness, her State Department has conferred with Cuba about this,  and I am certain the subject came up during President Calderon’s visit, also) so what?  What do people expect her to say?  The guy who got the job should be acting on that.  Speeches and comments are one thing.  Actions speak best.

CORRECTION:  She did address the spill in her press availablitity yesterday with Sri Lankan External Minister Peiris.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, thank you. So many eyes today on the oil spill, and we know there have been some offers of assistance from other countries. From where you stand, from your perspective, do you want more offers of assistance? And are you disappointed that more hasn’t been accepted by the United States and the oil company, as so many people in the United States are clamoring for more booms, et cetera? And also, what message do you have to America’s neighbors who may experience the ill effects of the spill? 

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Charley, the United States Government is working every second of every minute to mitigate the effects of this terrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We are very grateful for the generous offers of assistance that we’ve received from 17 countries and the European Union, including the European Maritime Safety Agency, the environment unit of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Environment Program, and the International Maritime Organization.
Countries from all over the world have offered general assistance and then some have made very specific offers, including experts in various aspects of oil spill impacts, research, and technical expertise and equipment, including booms, dispersants, oil pumps and skimmers. And we are very thankful for all of these efforts. The U.S. Coast Guard, which is the lead agency in the U.S. Government’s response efforts, continues to monitor developments, evaluate specific needs, assess offers of assistance, and determine our response.
While no offers of direct material assistance have been required by the United States Government thus far, we have accepted and are grateful for assistance in the form of notification regarding the spill sent by the International Maritime Organization to its member states and coordination of EU offers of assistance. And BP has accepted boom and skimmers offered by the governments of Mexico and Norway in coordination with the Unified Area Command. We are in very close, constant communication with other countries that border the Gulf.
This is just a terrible environmental disaster and we are working very hard with all of our partners to try to contain it, prevent further damage. But because of the extraordinary nature of this particular disaster, it is taking some time to fully bring to bear all of the material that is needed. But as the President said yesterday, this is the highest priority from the President on down to every federal government representative that is in the Gulf trying to work to mitigate the impact. But we are, as I said in the beginning, very grateful for the concern and the offers from our partners and friends around the world.

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Hillary Clinton: Hello and Goodbye Tokyo!

Posted in Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2010| 6 Comments »

Even though she landed in Shanghai long ago (see the previous post),  news of the Secretary of State’s activities on the ground in Tokyo continues to feed in. Since I know readers here prefer more rather than less of our assiduous, brilliant, and cute diplomat-in-chief (a+b+c+d)* here are some odds and ends courtesy of the State Department from her visit to Tokyo.

First, a short video of her statement on North Korea.


Then, a few photos I did not post earlier, done as only the State Department can. Here is her day in Tokyo.

Hellloooo Tokyo!!!!!

Who could NOT be pleased to see her?

Time with Foreign Minister Okada

With Prime Minister Hatoyama
Goodbye, Tokyo! It was lovely!

*Contest: New noun phrases along this formula ([a]adj.+[b]adj.+[c]adj. +[d] n.)
I know, as if you don’t have anything ELSE to do! I need new descriptors. Other formulae are acceptable as long as they are sequential, e.g. ([b]adj.+[c]adj.+[d]adj.] + [e] n.)
Worse, there’s no prize(!), unless Bill Clinton wants to spring for a phone call in appreciation of appreciation for his lovely wife. Negative descriptors will be rejected. This is a Pro-Hillary Clinton blog. Period!

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Secretary Clinton’s Joint Press Availability With Japanese Foreign Minister Okada

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Joint Press Availability With Japanese Foreign Minister Okada

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Ikura Guesthouse
Tokyo, Japan
May 21, 2010

MODERATOR: (Via translator) I would like to begin (inaudible) press conference with Foreign Minister Okada and Secretary Clinton. Minister Okada and then Secretary Clinton will speak, and then questions and answers. Mr. Okada, please.

FOREIGN MINISTER OKADA: (Via translator) Thank you. This is my fifth meeting with Secretary Clinton since last September. We had a very candid exchange of views. In today’s meeting we had discussions centering on the regional situations in Asia, and the response to the Iranian nuclear issue — but of course, other themes as well.

Instabilities and uncertainties as represented by the sinking of the ROK Navy corvette are becoming visible. And the Japan-U.S. alliance is, therefore, all the more important. Against this backdrop, this meeting, I believe, was important and timely for the purpose of addressing these situations through mutual cooperation, with common awareness of them between Japan and the United States. And, as such, it is gratifying that Secretary Clinton has visited Japan.

With regard to the sinking of the Korean corvette, we discussed the response we should take following the announcement yesterday of the results of the investigations. Setting aside details, we confirmed that coordination among Japan, U.S., and ROK, including our future response, is important, and that we shall maintain close communication with each other in addressing the matter.

As the Secretary is on her way to attend the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, I explained to her the results of the Japan-China-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers meeting, as well as the Japan-China Bilateral meeting held in its margins, and exchanged the views on Japan-China and U.S.-China relations, as well.

On the Iranian nuclear issue, while we will need to watch how the recent agreement between Iran, Turkey, and Brazil will play out, we see eye to eye that the cause for concern remains unchanged as Iran has publicly stated that it will continue the enrichment of uranium to approximately the 20 percent level.

I told Secretary Clinton that Japan will actively play a role in the discussions for a new UN Security Council resolution in order to enable the international community to put out a unified message. We confirmed that our two countries will continue to work closely together. We confirmed afresh the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance, including the above-mentioned exchange of views, and we shall carry on our consultations to further deepen the alliance.

On the question of relocating the Futenma air station, working-level officials of our two countries were having a meeting today, as well. And I also explained Japan’s position on this. Talks are proceeding intensively between Japan and the United States. Both Japan and the United States will make further efforts towards a settlement by the end of May. That’s all for me. Thank you very much.

Secretary Clinton, please.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first, it’s a pleasure to be back in Tokyo, and to reaffirm the enduring alliance between our two nations. I thank Minister Okada for his warm welcome and the substantive discussions that we’ve had, and I look forward to seeing the prime minister.

Japan was the first nation I visited as Secretary of State, because we recognize that this relationship continues to be a cornerstone of security, stability, and progress in a region that is so crucial to the future of our entire world.

This year, as the United States and Japan mark the 50th anniversary of our alliance, we can be very proud of all we have accomplished together; the peace we have kept, the prosperity we have built, and the bonds we have forged. This partnership is essential for meeting the challenges not only of today, but also of tomorrow. And it is a rock solid foundation for our shared future.

As the foreign minister said, we had a productive meeting on a number of critical issues and common concerns. We had a detailed discussion on the results of the international investigation into the sinking of the Korean military vessel. This was a thorough and comprehensive scientific examination, and the United States and other international observers were deeply engaged. The evidence is overwhelming and condemning. The torpedo that sunk the Cheonan and took the lives of 46 South Korean sailors was fired by a North Korean submarine. And the United States strongly condemns this act of aggression. As Minister Okada and I discussed, we will be in deep and constant consultations, not only between the United States and Japan, but also with South Korea, China, and others to determine our response.

We appreciate Japan’s support of South Korea and this investigation, because we recognize the threat that North Korea’s aggression poses is also to the people of Japan. Last year I met with families of the abducted, and expressed my personal sympathy and concern. The United States and Japan continue to work side by side to meet the challenges posed by North Korea. We agree that North Korea must stop its provocative behavior, halt its policy of threats and belligerence toward its neighbors, and take irreversible steps to fulfill its denuclearization commitments, and comply with international law.

I will be discussing these issues with my counterparts in Beijing next week, and then I will travel to Seoul, to consult with our South Korean partners about the way forward. But let me be clear. This will not be and cannot be business as usual. There must be an international — not just a regional, but an international — response.

The Minister and I also conferred about our efforts at the United Nations to secure a strong resolution on Iran. The draft resolution agreed to by the P-5+1 and circulated at the Security Council this week sends an unmistakable message to the Iranian leadership: Comply with your obligations or face growing isolation and consequences. The burden is on Iran to demonstrate through its actions, not its words, that it will live up to its responsibilities. The international non-proliferation regime cannot survive if violators are allowed to act with impunity. And the United States appreciates Japan’s support on this issue, and its leadership on the broader non-proliferation agenda.

Today we also discussed issues relating to the continued successful operation of U.S. bases in Japan. These are the front line of our alliance, and an anchor of stability in the region. The United States continues to work closely with Japan on basing issues to find a way forward that serves the interest of both our countries, and an arrangement that is operationally viable and politically sustainable. Our shared goal remains unchanged: to maintain Japanese security and regional stability, while minimizing the impact on base-hosting communities.

We salute Japan’s commitment to regional and global engagement, and I particularly applaud Japan’s generous contribution of $5 billion over 5 years to support the people of Afghanistan, as they combat violent extremism, and work to build a secure and stable nation. From reconstruction efforts in Iraq, to combating piracy off the horn of Africa, to fighting climate change, Japan is providing crucial contributions and leadership on a wide range of global challenges. Japan is making a real difference, and is an essential partner for the United States in pursuit of our common goals and values.

Last year, during my town hall discussion at the University of Tokyo, a student asked me how we can continue developing the U.S.-Japan relationship from a regional alliance to a global partnership. This is exactly the right question. And it is the question that animates our discussion and drives our collective action. And today we look to the future full of confidence in our friendship and our ability to work together.

And so, let me thank Minister Okada once again for his hospitality and leadership, and let me state how much the United States looks forward to continuing our work together to ensure that the next 50 years are as fruitful as the last.

MODERATOR: (Via translator) Thank you very much. Since time is pressing, I would like to accept two questions. One from Japanese media, please. Mr. Mishoma.

QUESTION: (Via translator) Mishoma with JJ Press. Question for both Minister Okada and Secretary Clinton, and the same question on Futenma. While the end of May is approaching, any settlement that can win the understanding of Okinawans remains elusive. How do the two countries intend to overcome the situation? And do the two countries plan to issue some kind of a joint statement towards the end of May? Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER OKADA: As I said earlier, between Japan and the United States we would like to come up with a clear direction. And with regard to that general direction, we would like to ask (inaudible) make firm efforts to gain the understanding of Okinawans. Coming Sunday, Prime Minister plans to visit Okinawa. So we will — the entire cabinet will continue to engage in efforts to explain the government’s position and gain the understanding of the people.

At the same time, to the Japanese people, we would like to have their understanding that in the current security environment the presence of U.S. forces is indispensible for the security and stability of Japan. But not only just that, but the region’s stability.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I agree completely with Minister Okada’s statement about the importance of our alliance, and the United States’s commitment to the defense of Japan. It has always been important. It is good to be reminded, as we recently were with the unprovoked attack on the Korean vessel, that there are still dangers and challenges that confront us together.

We are working closely to resolve the outstanding issues concerning our basing. We both seek an arrangement that is operationally viable and politically sustainable. The goal of our governments remains unchanged. We want to maintain the security of Japan and the stability of the region. And I am confident we will resolve this matter in a way that reflects the very best of our alliance, the strength of that alliance, for the next 50 years, and provides the security guarantees that the Japanese people are looking for. So we have committed to redoubling our efforts to meet the deadline that has been announced by the Japanese Government, and we look forward to a resolution of this matter.

MODERATOR: Thank you. One last question from the U.S. media corps. Mr. Schmidt?

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, you just said that there should be — the sinking the Cheonan — you just said that there should be a strong international response. Can you tell us what your options are? And are you worried that North Korea might retaliate to its condemnation?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I’m sorry, what was the last part of that question?

QUESTION: Are you worried that North Korea might retaliate after its condemnation?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, one of the reasons that I wanted to stop here first was to consult with the Japanese Government, and to reaffirm our commitment to working together to resolve this matter. We look forward to intensive consultations in China. And then, as you know, I will be going to Seoul. It is premature for me, at this moment, to announce options or actions without that level of consultation among the regional nations that are most directly affected by North Korea’s behavior.

I think it is important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences. We cannot allow this attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community. So we will determine our best options, moving forward, and send a clear, unmistakable message to North Korea regarding the international communities, and most particularly, its neighbors’ concerns about its behavior. And I look forward to being able to work out the details over the next week.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much. With this, we conclude the joint press conference. Thank you very much. The two ministers will have to immediately leave. Would the members of the press kindly wait in your seats? Thank you.

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Photos: Hillary Clinton Wheels Down In Japan

Posted in Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 21, 2010| 6 Comments »

These are just a few of a lot of pictures out there.  Since I am at the office, I can only post a few right now. These are only of her arriving at Haneda Airport. Later I will post the photos from the meetings, but I think she looks especially beautiful coming off the plane, so I thought I would share them quickly.





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The U.S. Media and Hillary Clinton

Posted in Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2010| 15 Comments »

With the Secretary of State departing tomorrow morning for Japan, I know I will suffer a day-long wait for news to post about her and then feel overwhelmed and be trying to find a moment here or there in my day to post the wealth of information as it comes out at odd hours from the State Department. But this is also a good time to point out why I even let blogging about her invade my otherwise already busy life and time. I do it because the media does such a poor job of covering her work and travels.

It is annoying enough, for example, when they do cover something she says or does by showing a silent clip of her while the reporter narrates her words. For pity sake, let me hear her say it!   At least in a case like that, though, they are covering her … sort of. Often enough, however, she does big things,  and they are barely covered in the media at all  (her hard work last week with President Karzai, for example). Hence this blog as a record of her monumental contributions.

I am writing this entry not simply to get that off my chest, but because, coincidentally, while I was thinking about this trip, I found an article in my news feed that caught my attention. Here is the header: Clinton may join Christchurch forum. Immediately I clicked on it thinking I had, yet again, found some foreign source leaking information about a change of itinerary for the Asia trip (an itinerary released by the State Department only last night and elaborated on today in a press briefing).   I was wrong. So wrong. Take a look at the first few paragraphs.  The emphasis is mine.

Clinton may join Christchurch forum
By GLENN CONWAY – The Press
A major security operation is under way as Christchurch prepares to host a political and business forum that may feature United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Mayor Bob Parker said hosting the February 2011 US-NZ Partnership Forum was “huge news for the city”.

Government security staff from both countries had already scouted locations for the fourth partnership forum, and security arrangements for venues were under way.

The venues would remain secret until just days before the event, Parker said.

Organisers said the security checks were normal, regardless of whether Clinton attended or not.

Read more>>>>

Here is my point. The mayor says this is huge news, and the news outlet, by the way,  is an NZ source. But check out what they front. Clinton is the first name in the header, and she gets the first paragraph.  The article is not so much celebrating Christchurch getting this forum, but that Hillary Clinton, international rock star of huge popularity, might attend. And. look, this is an event that is not even going to occur until February 2011.

The U.S. media, if they were less parochial, could learn something from the foreign press who actually appreciate our Secretary of State and display excitement over a possible visit. Hillary gets TV ratings and sells papers (isn’t actually selling papers the major problem facing newpapers today?). Maybe some of us would resume buying papers if they would print stories about the Secretary’s travels and work. Maybe I would not feel obliged to blog, and maybe I would not have to. I would be too busy reading about her in the papers.

Media peeps:  Look at that face up there!  And when you have a chance,  scroll back and watch the video of her opening remarks.  Why would you not be covering her?

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Press Briefing Details Secretary Clinton’s Trip To Asia

Posted in Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

These details come from the official and trusted source.

Briefing on the Upcoming U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue

Kurt M. Campbell
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Treasury Department Senior Coordinator for China Affairs David Loevinger
Washington, DC
May 19, 2010

MR. CROWLEY: Good morning and welcome to the Department of State. As we announced yesterday, the Secretary leaves tomorrow for a very important trip to Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul. Obviously, she’ll have important meetings in Tokyo and in Seoul on regional security issues, but at the heart of her visit to China will be the visit to the Shanghai Expo and most particularly the next round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue with a number of counterparts from the U.S. Government and a range of officials from the Chinese Government. So to kind of put the trip into context and in particular outline our objectives for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, we have brought together senior officials from here at State and the Department of Treasury. We’ll start off with Kurt Campbell, our Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, also known as the ambassador to the Department of Treasury. And our Senior Coordinator for China Affairs at the Department of Treasury, David Loevinger, will follow and then they’ll answer your questions.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Let me just take a few moments, if I could, to lay out the schedule and then some of our hopes and plans for the next several days. Tomorrow morning, Secretary Clinton and her team leave for a weeklong trip to Asia. Our first stop will be in Tokyo. While in Japan, Secretary Clinton will meet with Foreign Minister Okada and prime minister, and during those sessions she will discuss a number of specific matters. We will review the developing security situation on the Korean Peninsula. We will discuss the recently concluded P-5+1 agreement on a common approach towards Iran. We will discuss the ongoing troubles in Thailand and we will also review our common approaches to engagement of China. We’ll also be discussing security and defense-related issues, including developments on Okinawa. We will be working closely with our Japanese friends to underscore the importance of our alliance. Prime Minister Hatoyama has been very gracious in inviting the Secretary to come by the residence and we’ll look forward to that.
We will then be off to Shanghai. In Shanghai, Secretary Clinton will visit the American Pavilion as part of the Shanghai Expo. This is a signature initiative that she has been involved in to bring into life this wonderful exhibit which highlights American life. This is one of the largest expos of its kind in history. A very substantial number of Chinese citizens and visitors from around Asia are expected. We’re very much looking forward to the opportunity to engage with Chinese friends and also with a number of American business groups and civic organizations while we are in Shanghai.
We then proceed to our primary stop, which is going to be in Beijing, for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. I think as you all know, if you look at the signature institutional innovations of the Obama Administration, in addition to the creation of the G-20, there has also been the creation of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, working closely with Secretary Geithner. Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner convened this group of economic, political, and strategic players from across the Administration to engage in two and a half days of deep dialogue with Chinese friends on a host of issues, ranging from financial matters to regional concerns, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan-Pakistan, and also, obviously, pressing global challenges like climate change.
This is our second meeting of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Our first meeting took place last summer. Obviously, Secretary Clinton will seek to underscore her continuing commitment to the principal issues that she underscored in 2009 which continue to animate U.S.-China relations, and that is cooperation on regional security matters, work together on global financial issues, and obviously, climate change as well.
This is one of the largest groups of cabinet and subcabinet officials from the United States ever to visit China. We’ll have a total group of almost 200 officials that will be there during this two-day session. It includes virtually all elements of the U.S. Government, also key players from the Department of Defense and U.S. Pacific Command as well.
After our time in Beijing, Secretary Clinton will proceed to Seoul, South Korea, where she will meet directly with Foreign Minister Yu and also President Myung-bak for close consultations, again, on both developments associated with the tragic sinking of the South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, but also other developments on the Korean Peninsula. And then we will be returning back to the United States next Wednesday.
That’s the general overarching game plan. This is Secretary Clinton’s fifth trip to Asia since she’s been sworn in as Secretary of State. Obviously, very critical issues across the spectrum. And in a few minutes, I’ll look forward to taking your questions. Thank you.
MR. LOEVINGER: Good morning. I think I’ll start talking about Secretary Geithner’s schedule over the next few days and then talk a bit about our objectives for the economic track of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
On Friday evening, Secretary Geithner will depart for Beijing, arriving Sunday morning. He’s going to have a working lunch with Governor Zhou of the People’s Bank of China, and then that evening he’ll have a working dinner with Vice Premier Wang Qishan.
On Monday, Geithner will deliver remarks at the opening session of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. And this is all going to be open press at the opening session. And he’s also going to deliver remarks at the opening session of the economic track. Again, that’s going to be open press.
I’ll get into a moment the substance of the discussions in the economic track, but that’s going to comprise the rest of Monday. Monday night, there’s going to be a welcoming dinner – a banquet – for both the strategic and economic track participants.
On Tuesday, in one of the innovations that Assistant Secretary Campbell talked about with the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, is we’re going to have a joint session of both the economic and strategic tracks to talk about development issues. And then in the afternoon, both Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner will meet with Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao.
They’ll also participate in closing statements, and again, that will be open press. And then both secretaries will conduct a U.S. press conference before Secretary Geithner departs Beijing.
Now let me just talk a bit about our objectives for the economic track. Our relationship with China is one of the most important in the world, and President Obama is committed to making it more beneficial to the American people. President Obama has underscored the very tight link between trade and U.S. job creation, and he has set a goal of doubling exports over the next five years to create 2 million additional American jobs. Combating barriers that prevent U.S. workers and companies from getting free and fair access to foreign markets and ensuring that large economies like China with large current account surpluses depend more on their own domestic demand for growth, are key components of our efforts to achieve this goal of doubling exports in five years.
As the world’s largest and fastest-growing major economy, China presents enormous opportunities for U.S. companies and U.S. workers, but also some of our biggest economic challenges. The Strategic and Economic Dialogue allows U.S. and Chinese officials at the very highest levels to work together to address these challenges, to comprehensive and candid engagement and discussion. That’s why Secretary Geithner and Secretary Clinton are leading such a large delegation to Beijing.
While we hope to make progress on a range of issues, not all of the thorniest issues in our bilateral relationship will get resolved in a single meeting, and we will continue to promote U.S. interests in our bilateral economic relations with China using every tool – the S&ED, the JCCT, the G-20, other fora, and of course, WTO-consistent trade remedies.
Let me just tell you, on the economic side who’s going to be participating on the U.S. side. It’ll, of course, be led by Secretary Geithner. We’ll also have Ambassador Huntsman, Secretary Locke, Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, Ambassador Kirk, CEA Chair Romer, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Holdren, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bernanke, President of the U.S. Export-Import Bank Hochberg, Chairman of the FDIC Sheila Bair, and Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency Zak.
Now, they’re going to be participating in the economic track, but again, as Assistant Secretary Campbell mentioned, one of the innovations is we’re bringing kind of the strategic side and the economic side of our governments together. And many of these participants that I just listed are also going to be participating in the strategic track.
On the substance of the discussions last year, we agreed with China that there are kind of four key areas in our economic relationship that we’re going to focus our engagement and discussions on. One is combating trade and investment barriers. Two is promoting a strong recovery and more balanced growth. Three is promoting more resilient, open, and market-oriented financial systems. And the last one is strengthening the international economic and financial architecture.
And I’ll just finish up by briefly talking about our messages in each of those sessions. On trade and investment, it’s clear that both the U.S. and China have benefited greatly from a rule-based global trade and investment regime, but it’s also clear that American workers and American firms and the U.S. Government have concerns about some of China’s trade and investment policies, most recently and perhaps most notably, some of China’s policies to promote what’s called indigenous innovation. Again, we have no problem with China promoting innovation. We do it. Lots of countries do it. But we want to make sure that they do it in a way that doesn’t close off markets for U.S. goods and services.
On promoting more balanced growth, again, as I said, our highest priority now is to create jobs for American workers, and this will require that both countries take steps to rebalance the way they grow. The U.S. economy is recovering, but U.S. households are rebuilding their wealth. We’ve seen household savings come up from the lows before the crisis, and also the Administration is very committed once the recovery is fully assured to bringing the fiscal deficit down to a sustainable level.
The implications for China is that the U.S. consumer is going to play a different role in this recovery than in previous recoveries. And it’s more important than ever that China accelerate its efforts to promote homegrown, consumption-based growth.
On promoting more resilient and open financial sectors, the U.S. and China face very different challenges. But at the same time, reforming our financial sectors and strengthening regulation and supervision is critical both to have strong and sustainable growth and reduce the risks of further booms and busts. We are also working very hard to strengthen cooperation among our financial regulators. This has to keep pace with the integration of our financial sectors to ensure the integrity of our markets, cut off regulatory arbitrage, contain systemic risks, and protect small investors from fraud.
Lastly, on strengthening the international financial and economic architecture, both the U.S. and China recognize that multilateral institutions and mechanisms – like the G-20, like the IMF, like the World Bank – have a very important role to play in supporting a strong recovery, job creation, global standards of good governance, open trade and investment, poverty reduction, and a strong international financial system. And we’re going to talk with China about ways we can work together to make sure that these institutions are both legitimate, effective, and have the resources to do their jobs.
MR. CROWLEY: We’ll take questions.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Thank you very much. And identify yourself if you would, please.
MR. CROWLEY: We’ll start with Charlie.
QUESTION: Secretary Campbell, you mentioned that there will be part of the discussion —
MR. CROWLEY: Charlie Wolfson with CBS.
QUESTION: Sorry. Charlie Wolfson, CBS. You mentioned that there’d be discussions of the situation in Thailand. Can you bring us up to date on what the situation is in Thailand, the U.S. Embassy itself and Americans there, but how you see the situation?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Thank you. I think it would be fair to say that we are still gathering information from last night’s events. There was widespread action. The government did move against the key encampments in the middle of the city. Much of those – many of those groups have been disbanded. There has been substantial burning, substantial looting throughout the city, and there are reports of sporadic incidents throughout the country as a whole. We continue to monitor the situation very closely.
And we will be issuing a statement later. I will be meeting with representatives from the Thai Government today to get their take of developments on the ground. I spoke to the Thai ambassador – excuse me, the American ambassador in Thailand this morning. I think – I expect we’ll have more for you later today.
MR. CROWLEY: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: Wait, can we do this the way we usually do it? Thanks. Matt Lee with the AP. You also mentioned earlier in your opening remarks that the South Korean ship sinking would be an issue. Recognizing the report actually hasn’t been released, I don’t think, but a pretty open secret what it says, can you talk about what goes into the calculus of a response in terms of how you determine what’s appropriate?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: I can’t, because the report has not been released and it will be released about 2200 tonight in Seoul. I can tell you that the United States has been deeply and actively involved in all aspects of the investigation and the United States strongly supports its conclusions, as it will be rolled out this evening.
I will tell you that Secretary Clinton, one of the reasons and purposes for her trip will be to have the closest possibly consultation with Japan, China, and South Korea on the next phase. Obviously, we have a deep, enduring, and profound interest in the maintenance of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, but we will be working closely, particularly with our South Korean friends, about the next phase.
QUESTION: Well, just whatever the report ends up saying, although we all know what it is going to say, are there concerns that a response that you might take or that anyone –
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: I think I’ll just stay – stick where we are. The Secretary will have much more to be talking about on this matter as the situation develops in the next couple of days.
QUESTION: Dan Neumann with Inside U.S. Trade with a question for Mr. Loevinger. Could you talk a bit about how currency is going to fit into those four topics that you outlined on the economic track, and especially how these talks fit in with the somewhat nebulous timing for the – well, no longer April – currency report, but the delayed currency report that Secretary Geithner talked about last month?
MR. LOEVINGER: Yeah. I mean, we’ve been very clear in our discussions that China moving to a more market-determined and stronger exchange rate is an important part of a range of policies that are going to promote more balanced and sustained growth in the global economy. As Secretary Geithner said in early April, when we announced that we were delaying the release of the report, we’re in intensive discussions with the Chinese both bilaterally in the run-up to the S&ED and multilaterally in the G-20. He said, at that time, that he believes it’s in the U.S. interest to let these discussions play out.
We’ve remained confident that what we don’t know when China is going to move, we remain confident that they’re going to determine that it’s in their interest to move to a more market-determined exchange rate.
Yes. The gentleman right here.
QUESTION: Lalit Jha from Press Trust of India. In March, you went to Delhi to talk with the Indian Government on China and Asisn-related issues. And in April, Assistant Secretary Blake went to Beijing for U.S.-China Sub-Dialogue on South Asia. So can you give us a sense of the dynamics between U.S., China, and India as you try to make moves on regional and global issues?
And secondly, where do we stand on U.S.-Burma relations after your second trip to Burma? Have you seen anything moving forward in that?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Let me answer the first question first. And I can talk to you primarily about my own engagement with India. I took a delegation to Delhi for discussions with Indian friends about developments in Asia generally. We talked about Southeast Asia, China, Northeast Asia and developments there. And I think our desire is to continue a strong dialogue with India about their so-called “Look East” strategy, which obviously involves India playing a larger role economically, politically, strategically in the Asian-Pacific region. We welcome that, we support that, we think that’s an important development in the next phase of Asia’s growth. We talked about regional architecture and the desire to see India play a larger role in the emerging architecture of the Asian-Pacific region. And I must say we were quite satisfied by our discussions and we, I think, look forward to continuing deeper discussions with Indian friends about developments in the wider Asian-Pacific region.
As you just suggested, I returned from a trip to Burma last week. It was my second trip. While I was there, I had the opportunity to interact directly with the government, also with elements of the opposition ethnic groups, key groups that are going to be competing in the upcoming election, the NLD, and also I had a chance to meet Aung San Suu Kyi. In my statement at the conclusion of my visit, I did underscore that the United States remains quite dissatisfied with what we’ve seen to date in terms of movement on the part of the government on the specific issues that we’ve laid out. We were hoping to see an internal dialogue among the key parties in advance of the upcoming election. We sought movement on issues associated with political prisoners inside the country. We had hoped for more specific steps to ease tensions between the government and ethnic minority groups. And lastly, we wanted to see more progress on issues associated with UN Security Resolution 1874. On each of these issues, we are troubled by developments and we are calling on the government to follow through on specific steps to allow not only a better relationship with the United States and the international community but a better future for its people overall.
MR. CROWLEY: We’ll take – back in the back, right there. Yes (inaudible).
QUESTION: Hi. Emma Ashburn. I’m with Asahi Shimbun. Just to follow up on the question earlier on the RMB from Mr. Loevinger, does it – do you see – do you think that the S&ED and the timing of the S&ED has forced China to push back any movement on the RMB? And do you think that the S&ED helps or hurts Chinese thoughts on the RMB?
And secondly, do you have a date for the April FX report release? Or will it just be pushed back indefinitely? Thanks.
MR. LOEVINGER: Okay. I think it’s very important on this issue – and again, we’ve made very clear that a more market-determined exchange rate by China will make an important contribution to more sustained and balanced global growth. It’s important to have both the bilateral channel and the multilateral channel, and we’re actively engaged in both channels. And we remain confident that China’s going to decide it’s in its interest. And if you look at what’s happening in the Chinese economy, their recovery is strengthening, their trade is growing, prices are rising, they’re increasingly worried about the rise of housing prices. And a stronger, more flexible, exchange rate would help them manage challenges they face in their own economy.
QUESTION: And the FX report?
MR. LOEVINGER: Oh. As I said, in early April when we announced we were delaying the report, we said that we were in intensive discussions, bilaterally through the S&ED and multilaterally through the G-20. And the best thing to encourage an early move by China on the exchange rate is to let these discussions play out. I don’t want to prejudge how those discussions are going to play out.
MR. CROWLEY: Go there, and then come back to this row.
QUESTION: Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires. Firstly, just housekeeping. How many agency heads are going over? I heard something north of 200 or –
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Total officials.
QUESTION: Total officials.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: No, total officials that are going, or people from the U.S. Government.
QUESTION: Okay.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: What’s the total number? I think it’s around – between – I think it’s between 15 and 18. So we’ll – I’m hearing 16, but it may be slightly different than that as we go forward.
QUESTION: Okay.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: And that includes both in the strategic and the economic track.
QUESTION: Okay. Gotcha. And secondly, what changed – earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Geithner had said he was going to press the Chinese; he was going to be more rhetorical on his urging them to appreciate their currency. There is obviously a move to be less rhetorical about that. What changed the mind and what influences did euro devaluation have on this?
And then finally, indigenous innovation, what deliverables do you expect? Or is this just a part of a process? Yeah.
MR. LOEVINGER: Okay. First of all, I don’t think there’s been any change in Secretary Geithner’s approach on the RMB. We’ve been very clear with the Chinese that this remains a top priority. And I think what’s happening in Europe reinforces the imperative that China move quickly to promote homegrown consumption-led growth in its own economy.
Indigenous innovation is also a very important issue. We’ve made that very clear to the Chinese. Again, we understand and support their efforts to move up the value-added chain, to promote technological development, but we just want to make sure that they do it in a way that doesn’t close markets and doesn’t cut off access for U.S. goods and services and doesn’t discriminate against U.S. companies operating in China. I think we’ve made some progress so far. That’s going to be an important part of our discussions on Monday and Tuesday. And I think this is an issue that we’re going to continue to discuss for a while.
MR. CROWLEY: Mark, and then —
QUESTION: Question for Assistant Secretary Campbell. Mark Landler at The New York Times. Two questions, actually, Kim Jong-Il was, as you know, in China. Do you have hopes that you will learn from the Chinese substantive things about his regime and maybe even things related to the Cheonan affair, given that they have seen him recently? That’s the first question.
The second question, on Iran, the annexes to the sanctions resolution are still under negotiation. Is there going to be substantive negotiation on that in the course of this S&ED? Would you expect to maybe come out of the S&ED with a completed resolution package?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Thank you, Mark. Good questions on both side. Let me try to answer both. First of all, we anticipate – I was in Beijing on Monday. We obviously discussed with Chinese friends developments on the Korean Peninsula. I anticipate a central issue of discussion for Secretary Clinton with her interlocutors, Dai Bingguo and also the Chinese leaders, will be on their assessments and – their assessments of developments in North Korea and their reaction to the report that will be released later today as already discussed.
Mark, my understanding is that most of the work on the last phases of the resolution will be taking place in New York under the direction of Ambassador Rice. I do expect, however, that Secretary Clinton will be talking specifically about next steps with Chinese interlocutors associated with Iran.
QUESTION: This is for Ambassador Campbell. Rosalind Jordan with Al Jazeera English. Following on North Korea, specifically what is the U.S.’s thought process at this point about dealing with the sinking of the South Korea ship? And how does that tie in with any attempts to try to hold North Korea accountable for its attempts to expand its nuclear program?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: If I can say, I don’t – we already had a good question. I don’t mean to be avoiding the discussion about this matter, but the truth is that the official report, which we have played a central role in, will be rolled out today at about 10 p.m. tonight in South Korea. At that time —
MR. CROWLEY: 10 p.m. our time.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: 10 p.m. our time. I apologize. At that time, the South Koreans, with the United States and other countries, will lay out the results of the examination and the assessments of what caused the sinking. Thereafter, the United States will have a statement and that one of the reasons that Secretary Clinton is traveling to the region and traveling to both Japan and South Korea is to articulate and put in place a set of responses. And we’ll have more to say about that in the coming days. Thank you.
QUESTION: But isn’t there concern, though, sir, about the apparent amount of time it has taken not just to investigate this but to hold North Korea accountable for what seems to be a growing number of provocative actions in the region?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: We have stated on several occasions that we are concerned by a number of steps that North Korea has taken that we consider to be provocative: nuclear tests, missile launches, and other regional activities. The United States still believes that North Korea must comply by its commitments that it’s made in 2005 to relinquish its nuclear pursuits. We are, however, facing a very serious set of circumstances in the coming days. And as I indicated, we’ll have more to say specifically about the tragic sinking of the Cheonan in the coming days. Thanks.
QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.
QUESTION: Parameswaran from Agence France Presse. A question for you, sir. Just a follow-up to your answer on the euro. You said that basically what happens in Europe makes it more necessary for China to beef up domestic consumption. But can I be more specific in the sense that does the depreciation of the euro against the dollar make it more compelling for China to revalue the yuan, especially when the dollar has gone up so rapidly and makes it more – or dampens U.S. competitiveness?
MR. LOEVINGER: Yeah. I mean, as I said, I think the challenge that Europe faces and the prospects that growth may be slower reinforces the imperative that other major economies step up their effort to promote homegrown domestic demand, consumption-led growth. I talked about what we’re going to tell the Chinese about the U.S. economy. We’re recovering, but U.S. households are rebuilding their wealth and the U.S. consumer is going to play a very different role in this recovery than they’ve played in previous recoveries. So you’ve got challenges in Europe, you’ve got a different kind of recovery in the U.S., you’ve got challenges in Japan. That’s why we feel that it’s more important than ever that China do everything that it can to promote homegrown growth, including through a more market-oriented currency.
QUESTION: Paul Eckert of Reuters –
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Hi, Paul.
QUESTION: Assistant Secretary Campbell, on Okinawa, some segments of the Japanese media have said that Prime Minister Hatoyama has decided to postpone that whole decision until the end of the year, until about November. Have you heard anything about that through official channels from Japan? And how are you going to approach this issue? Do you see a lot of downside if the whole matter is put off for another six months?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: I can say quite simply we have not heard anything officially of that sort from Japanese interlocutors, official or otherwise. And obviously, one of the reasons that Secretary Clinton is looking forward to her interactions with both the prime minister and the foreign minister is to hear quite clearly from them about what their plans are for the next steps associated with Okinawa.
QUESTION: Thanks. Rebecca Christie from Bloomberg. Some in the business community have expressed concerns that because of all the security issues on the table, the economic agenda might be politicized or overshadowed and therefore less effective. How do you respond to those?
MR. LOEVINGER: I think one of the advantages of having the Strategic and Economic Dialogue is we can make very clear to the Chinese what the U.S. Government’s priorities are in our bilateral relationship. Assistant Secretary Campbell has talked about the priorities on the strategic side and Secretary Geithner has made very clear what our priorities are on the economic side: exchange rate, indigenous innovation, other issues that I talked about. But those are really the top two.
QUESTION: Are you worried, though, that by having both at the same time you’re sending a mixed message about which of those is more important, particularly if things like Iran and North Korea are in the headlines so much these days?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: I’m not, and I just tried to begin by suggesting if you look carefully at what Secretary Clinton said when she visited China after being appointed as Secretary of State, she made very clear that one of the issues at the very top of the agenda was the global economic situation and the role – the critical role that the United States and China play in that situation. So I think there’s no lack of recognition on both sides of the economic and strategic spectrum that we have a host of issues that we need to work on together – both strategic, regional, and particularly economic and financial.
MR. CROWLEY: We have time for a couple of more. We’ll take one back here.
QUESTION: 21st Century Business Herald, a Chinese newspaper. My question is to Mr. Loevinger. Last – over the last Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the first commitment that U.S. Government made is that the U.S. is going to reduce its debt and deficit when the recovery is coming back. So I wonder, by now do you have clear roadmap for the Chinese about what you plan to do to address this issue. And we can look – if you look back, how much of this commitment made over the past Strategic and Economic Dialogue are being exercised? Are you satisfied with the situation of how many of them are exercised?
MR. LOEVINGER: Okay. I’ll answer the last question first. As part of our preparations for this Strategic and Economic Dialogue, we spent a lot of time with our Chinese counterparts going through the accounting exercise of making sure that both sides fulfill on their commitments. We take this very seriously, and I know that the Chinese side does as well. I’d say, while not every commitment has been fulfilled, I think if you go back and look at the joint fact sheet from the last S&ED, you’ll see that most – not all, but most commitments have been filled by both sides.
On U.S. fiscal policy, again, we’re going to be very clear with the Chinese because we know they have questions, that this Administration is committed to bringing down the fiscal deficit and the government’s debt to a sustainable level. But we’re not going to do that until the recovery is fully established. That’s the best thing for China, it’s the best thing for the world, it’s the best thing for the U.S.
President Obama has already put forth a set of proposals to bring the U.S. deficit back down to a sustainable level. Working with the Congress, we’ve created a commission that is going to come up with further recommendations on how we can do this, and particularly deal with the growth of entitlement spending. And we look forward to those recommendations by the end of the year.
MR. CROWLEY: So we’ll finish up with two more questions. I’ll take a question here and I’ll take question here. What’s your question?
QUESTION: Thank you. South Korean foreign minister said he will take the Cheonan incident to the UN Security Council. Do you support that? Also are you considering re-listing North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism? Thank you.
MR. CROWLEY: And your question? Okay.
QUESTION: My question is for Ambassador Campbell. Will strategic dialogue discuss resuming military-to-military exchange? And will there be any senior official from Pentagon to participate in strategic dialogue?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: Let me take the last question and then I’ll take the question from our Korean friend.
Members of the delegation, Secretary Clinton’s delegation and Secretary Geithner’s delegation, will include senior members from the Pentagon, and we will have briefings with Chinese friends on a range of issues, including the recently concluded Nuclear Posture Review and issues associated with the Quadrennial Defense Review. We will also be joined by Admiral Willard. He is the commander of U.S. Forces in the Pacific, and he will interact directly with both members of the Chinese delegation and others about how U.S. Forces Pacific see areas where the United States and China can work closely together on humanitarian and other matters confronting our nations in the Asian-Pacific region. And of course, it is our hope that mil-to-mil relations will pick up steam in the latter half here of 2010. And I believe that there will be some discussions to that effect during our time in Beijing.
And to the specific question, I can tell you that the United States supports South Korea unequivocally and strongly. And President Myung-bak and President Obama spoke on the phone earlier this week about a joint strategy on the way forward, and we will be discussing a variety of possible areas of coordination during our upcoming visits to the region and during the meetings between Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Yu, yes.
MR. CROWLEY: Thank you very much.

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Hillary Clinton’s Asia Travel Plans **Updated**

Posted in Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2010| 2 Comments »

Well we now have official word from P.J. Crowley in today’s press briefing.

Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
May 18, 2010
Secretary of State Clinton will travel to Japan, China, and Korea, departing Washington, D.C., on May 20th. She will visit Tokyo on May 21st; Shanghai on May 21st and 22nd; Beijing, May 23rd through May 26th; and will conclude her travel in Seoul also on May 26th.
In Tokyo, she will discuss regional and global issues with our Japanese ally.
In Shanghai, she will visit the 2010 Shanghai Expo and attend a dinner in honor of the U.S. Pavilion sponsors. She’ll participate in a commercial diplomacy event to highlight the importance of U.S. market access and job creation.
In Beijing, she will join Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner and over a dozen U.S. cabinet members and agency heads as part of the U.S. delegation to the second joint meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue together with her respective co-chairs State Councilor Dai and Vice Premier Wang.
On May 25, she will participate in an event to celebrate people-to-people engagement with State Councilor Liu. And on May 26th, she finishes in the Republic of Korea, where she will meet with senior government officials to discuss regional stability and other issues. And tomorrow morning at 11:45, we’ll have a trip briefing here at State featuring Kurt Campbell and Dave Loevinger from the Department of Treasury.

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Secretary Clinton’s Remarks on Japanese and Korean Children’s Day (plus cute slideshow)

Posted in Hillary Rodham Clinton, hillaryrodham clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on May 4, 2010| 10 Comments »

Secretary Clinton has led a hidden day. Right now she is attending an event at the Embassy of Kuwait in honor of Laura Bush’s new book. While we await news from that, I thought I would share her statements on the occasion of Children’s Day In Japan and Korea along with an adorable collection of photos of Hillary with babies and kids. I know I shared a lot of these rather recently, but you cannot have too much of something this good!

First, Madame Secretary’s remarks.

Japan’s Children’s Day

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 4, 2010

On behalf of President Obama and the American people, it is my pleasure to offer my warmest wishes to all the boys and girls in Japan as they celebrate Children’s Day on May 5. On this day, Japanese families take the time to celebrate the joys of childhood and family life. For all nations, children are our most precious treasure and a great source of happiness and pride. American and Japanese children have so much in common in their studies, sports, and entertainment. They remind us how close and entwined our societies have become and how linked our futures will be. Both the United States and Japan share a strong commitment to childhood health, safety, and education. We are committed to working together to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for children in Japan and around the world.

Republic of Korea’s Children’s Day

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 4, 2010

On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I offer warm wishes to all the boys and girls of Korea on Children’s Day. On this holiday, Korean families celebrate the joys of childhood and family life. This is also an opportunity to reaffirm the strong commitment that both our countries share to promoting childhood health, safety and education, and to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to live up to his or her full God-given potential.

Many thousands of American children from military families have lived in Korea over the last six decades, and thousands of Korean children have attended school in the United States. Our two countries are stronger and closer because of the cultural understanding and unique perspectives that these children will always carry with them.

Now the slideshow!

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