On her first overseas trip as the top US diplomat, Secretary of State Hillary R Clinton would embark on a week-long visit to China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia later in February.
Clinton will visit the four countries starting February 15, with the global financial crisis, climate change and efforts to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons topping her agenda, State Department spokesperson Robert Wood
said on Thursday.
Asia is "growing in size, in influence and prosperity" and the secretary felt that "going to Asia would send a tremendous signal to Asia and others in the world of the importance of the region, particularly, to our foreign policy agenda," Wood said.
"That's the basic reason. It's an important part of the world. It's a very strategic part of the world. And it's logical for the Secretary to want to go there," he said.
Clinton would be visiting Japan from 16 to 18 February, followed by Indonesia on the 18 and 19th and South Korea from 19 to 20th and finally China on the 20 to 22nd, the State Department said.
In Tokyo, Clinton will meet with senior Japanese officials for discussions on the strategic bilateral alliance and cooperation with Japan on regional and global issues.
