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Clinton pledges US
commitment in South Pacific visit
AP, RAROTONGA, Cook Islands
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday pledged renewed US
commitment to security in the Asia-Pacific, where tensions are rising between
China and its smaller neighbors over territorial disputes and many nations face
threats from climate change.
Speaking at a meeting of leaders of South Pacific island nations, Clinton said
the US would not abandon its long history of protecting maritime commerce in the
region and serving as a counterbalance to domination by any single world power.
However, she played down the idea that the US was acting ¡§perhaps as a hedge
against particular countries.¡¨
She said the US wanted to cooperate with China in the vast Pacific and
encouraged other countries, including those in the region, to do the same.
¡§The Pacific is big enough for all of us,¡¨ she told reporters at a news
conference with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, whose country handles
defense and foreign relations for the Cook Islands.
Yet she said that China¡¦s interests in the region are not necessarily the same
as others, a point she also made clear earlier this month on a trip to Africa
when she contrasted US goals for that continent as aimed at adding rather than
extracting value. The comment was a veiled shot at China, which some complain is
using its overseas investments to exploit resources at the expense of local
populations.
¡§Here in the Pacific, we want to see China act in a fair and transparent way,¡¨
Clinton said. ¡§We want them to play a positive role in navigation and maritime
security issues. We want to see them contribute to sustainable development for
the people of the Pacific, to protect the precious environment, including the
ocean and to pursue economic activity that will benefit the people.¡¨
Earlier at the meeting, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai (±Z¤Ñ³Í) said
China was already engaged with the region in a positive way.
¡§The thrust of China¡¦s policy toward the Pacific is to achieve peace, stability
and development,¡¨ Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. ¡§China has done many
concrete things to support the economic and social development of Pacific island
countries, always in light of the needs and interests of the countries
concerned.¡¨
In her speech to the meeting, Clinton said the US would remain a big player in
the region and pointed to past accomplishments.
¡§We have underwritten the security that has made it possible for the people of
this region to trade and travel freely,¡¨ she said, pointing to nearly a century
of US military presence in the Asia-Pacific. ¡§We have consistently protected the
Pacific sea lanes through which a great deal of the world¡¦s commerce passes, and
now we look to the Pacific nations in a spirit of partnership for your
leadership on some of the most urgent and complex issues of our time.¡¨
She said that hundreds of US naval, coast guard and commercial vessels ply the
Pacific and called for them to play an enhanced role in maintaining free trade
and combating crime, such as human trafficking and illegal fishing.
Clinton is the first secretary of state to participate in the Pacific Island
Forum and the first to visit the sprawling, but sparsely populated Cook Islands.
Her visit to the main island, population 10,000, in the remote Cook chain has
created a buzz of excitement.
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