US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will depart this week on a visit to Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand, the State Department announced on Friday.
Clinton will also travel to Hawaii where she will hold talks on Wednesday with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, whose government has been trying to weather tensions with China, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
US President Barack Obama’s administration has described Southeast Asia as a key diplomatic priority, saying that the dynamic region was neglected by former president George W. Bush because of his focus on Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Melbourne, Clinton will be joined by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for annual consultations between the US and Australia, the State Department said.
Despite warm relations between the US and Australia, Clinton will become the highest-ranking official from the Obama administration to visit.
She called off a scheduled visit in January to focus on relief after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, while Obama has twice called off trips to Australia firstly to shepherd through his health care reforms and later over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said he “looked forward” to hosting Clinton and Gates at the Australia-US Ministerial (AUSMIN) foreign policy and defense talks in Melbourne on Nov. 8.
“Their visit will mark the 25th anniversary of the first AUSMIN talks in Canberra in 1985 and 70 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and the United States,” Rudd said in a statement.
In Malaysia, Clinton will seek discussion on “our enhanced ties,” a US State Department statement said.
The Obama administration has stepped up diplomacy with Malaysia, seeing it as a potential force for moderation within the Islamic world.
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