HONOLULU (Jan. 14)— In a policy speech delivered Tuesday at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined US goals for multilateral engagement in the region “America’s future is linked to the future of the Asia Pacific region, and the future of this region depends on America,” Clinton said.
The speech came at start of what had been scheduled to be Clinton’s fourth trip to the Asia Pacific region as America’s top diplomat.
However, she later postponed the remainder of her trip and returned to Washington due to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
(American Samoa’s congressman, Faleomavaega Eni, issued a press release last week about Clinton’s trip, noting his disappointment “that some 15 Pacific Island nations are being ignored and marginalized once again.”
“This is the wrong message to send,” Faleomavaega said. “The U.S. cannot afford to take for granted the sacrifices Pacific Island nations have made on our behalf. While New Zealand refuses entry to U.S. nuclear ships, many Pacific Island nations fought side by side with the U.S. throughout WWII.”)
Clinton spoke at the East-West Center in observance of the 50th anniversary year since the Center was founded by Congress to promote better understanding and relations between the peoples and nations of the US, Asia and the Pacific.
“During the five decades since the Center opened, no region has undergone a more dramatic transformation,” she said “The East-West Center has been part of this sea change, helping to shape ideas and train experts I thank all of you for bringing greater awareness and understanding to the economic, political and security issues that dominate the region and the world today.”
Clinton noted that President Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, had been an East-West Center scholar when she pursued her graduate studies in anthropology, focusing on the emerging field of microfinance Obama himself spent his formative years in Hawaii and Indonesia, a background that she said fostered a world view that “reflects his appreciation of and respect for Asia and its people.”
Speaking before an invited audience of about 150 East-West Center students, staff and Hawaii dignitaries, the Secretary said that nearly a year into the Obama administration, it should be clear that the Asia Pacific relationship is a priority for the United States.
In recent decades, she pointed out, the Asia Pacific region has undergone unprecedented transformations. “Asian countries that were destitute a generation ago now boast some of the highest living standards in the world,” she said “In the space of two generations, Asia has become a region in which the old is juxtaposed with the new, a region that has gone from soybeans to satellites, from rural outposts to gleaming mega-cities, from traditional calligraphy to instant messaging, and, most importantly, from old hatreds to new partnerships.”
This progress is the product of hard work and ingenuity multiplied across billions of individual lives, Clinton said, and it has been sustained by the engagement, security and assistance provided by the United States.
Clinton said that Asian leaders have long talked about strengthening regional cooperation, and that regional institutions have already played a significant part in Asia’s evolution. “Yet looking forward, we know that they can and I would argue must work better,” she said. “There is now the possibility for greater regional cooperation, and there is also a greater imperative.”
She laid out several principles that she said “will define America’s continued engagement and leadership in the region, and our approach to issues of multilateral cooperation.”
First, she said, the United States’ longstanding nation-to-nation alliances are the “cornerstone of US involvement in the region.
She cited relationships with such nations as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and the Philippines as being among” the most successful bilateral partnerships in modern history and said other bilateral relationships would continue to develop.
She said, “Our commitment to our bilateral relationships is entirely consistent with and will enhance Asia’s multilateral groupings.”
Second, Clinton said, regional institutions and efforts should focus on clear and increasingly shared objectives, such as enhancing security and stability, expanding economic opportunity and growth, and fostering democracy and human rights.
“To promote regional security, we must address nuclear proliferation, territorial disputes and military competition— persistent threats of the 21st century,” Clinton said. “To advance economic opportunity, we must focus on lowering trade and investment barriers, improving market transparency, and promoting more balanced, inclusive and sustainable patterns of economic growth.”
In regard to democracy and human rights, Clinton applauded ASEAN’s decision to establish an Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. “Over time, we hope the Commission and other regional initiatives will enhance respect for fundamental freedoms and human dignity throughout the region,” she said.
She cautioned, however, that in all these objectives, multilateral regional institutions must be effective and focused on delivering results. “It’s more important to have organizations that produce results, rather than simply producing new organizations,” she said.
Clinton also said that since regional leaders must be flexible in pursuing the results they seek, the US would continue to support less formal multilateral arrangements focused on specific challenges, such as the Six Party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, along with sub-regional institutions that advance the shared interests of groups of neighbors.
Finally, she emphasized that Asia Pacific nations, including the US, need to decide which will be the ‘defining regional organizations’.
“It’s important that we do a better job of trying to define which organizations will best protect and promote our collective future,” she said. “The defining ones will include all the key stakeholders— and these may be well-established, like APEC, or they could be of more recent vintage, like the East Asia Summit, or more likely, a mix of well-established and new.”
“This is a critical question that we must answer together through consultation and coordination,” Clinton said.
Clinton added that there is also a continuing need for an institution that is aimed at fostering economic integration of the region. “I think APEC is the organization that we and our partners must engage in, ensuring that it moves toward fulfilling that responsibility,” she said.
Following her remarks, Clinton took several questions from East-West Center students in the audience.
(Source: East West Center website)
