Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Photo: GETTY/The TelegraphFrom The Washington Post:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Asia on her first voyage as chief diplomat, skipping the more traditional itinerary of Europe or the Middle East in order to place a renewed focus on an area with half the world's population and gross domestic product.
Clinton will depart Feb. 15 and visit three key East Asian nations -- Japan, South Korea and China -- and also Indonesia, the State Department said in a statement that notably did not mention the nuclear impasse with North Korea, a traditional discussion topic for the region. Instead, spokesman Robert Wood highlighted the global financial crisis and climate change as being among the key subjects Clinton will raise on her trip.
Both Japan, with the world's second-biggest economy, and China, with one of the fastest-growing economies, are critical to efforts to emerge from the worldwide economic crisis, while South Korea is an important trading partner with the United States. Indonesia, where President Obama spent some of his childhood, is the world's largest Muslim nation.
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My Comment: This is the right trip to go on first. Japan and China are the 2nd and 3rd largest economies in the world, with the world undergoing a recession, it is appropriate that the top three countries meet to discuss policy and a plan of action.
I do not expect any breakthroughs .... this is just going to be the first of many trips and discussions in the next year or two.