On the President's Call to Prime Minister Aso of Japan

The President last evening had a substantive and wide-ranging telephone discussion with Prime Minister Aso of Japan. The President expressed his deep commitment to the U.S.-Japan Alliance, which serves as the foundation for stability in the region. The President consulted with Prime Minister Aso on the global economic crisis and affirmed the need for close cooperation. The two leaders discussed regional issues, including North Korea, and agreed to work closely through the Six Party Talks process. President Obama said he looked forward to an early meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. Good afternoon, and I am so delighted to welcome the president of the Philippines to the State Department. As you know, the Philippines is one of our closest and most important allies, not just in Asia, but on so many issues around the world. And we are very proud of the role and contributions that Filipino Americans have played in the United States over many years. So welcome, Madame President.

President Macapagal-Arroyo. Thank you. Thank you, Madame Secretary. Thank you. I am very happy to be here to congratulate you on your appointment and your love-fest of a confirmation.

As you said, the Filipino Americans have played a very important role here, but another important thing is they all love you, both the Filipino Americans and the Filipinos in the Philippines. So we're so proud of you.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks in New York, NY

Introductory Remarks Omitted

Secretary Clinton. A half century ago when the Asia Society was founded, Asia was frozen in a cold war, wracked by poverty, and seemingly destined for desolation. Few in or outside of Asia's borders foresaw anything but a future of conflict, occupation, and despair. Today, the countries I will visit are at peace. Asia is on the cutting edge of so many of the world's innovations and trends. It is a contributor to global culture, a global economic power, and a region of vital importance to the United States today and into our future.

Over the past 30 years, I've had the privilege of traveling to a very different Asia. Whenever I think back on my visits, it's as if a movie reel of images, old and new, were running through my head. I think of the elegant temples of Kyoto, or the rituals of nomadic life outside Ulaan-baatar, the intricate handwork of traditional craftspeople in Chiang Rai, the vibrant markets of Hanoi, Hong Kong, and Dhaka; the grand hotels of Singapore and Manila, the calligraphers practicing their art in Xi'an, the historic dress of Seoul and the traditional dances of Jakarta, or the strum of the sitar in New Delhi.

And I've seen also the skyscrapers and factories, the urban corridors and hightech campuses, the research facilities and modern hospitals—a continent where, now, more often than not, the rule of law and free elections have become or are in the process of becoming the norm, where entrepreneurship and innovation have transformed economies into global economic powers.

Asia has influenced world civilization for millennia, as it has our own culture. Our nation is home to 13 million Asian American citizens, and our daily life is so enriched by Asian literature and art, by music and movies, by food and architecture, medicine and science, technology and values.

Today, it is tempting to focus our attention on the tensions and perils of our interdependence, but I prefer to view our connectedness as an opportunity for dynamic and productive partnerships that can address both the challenge and the promise of this new century.

And that's what I want to talk about today, how the United States is committed to a new era of diplomacy and development in which we will use smart power to work with historic allies and emerging nations to find regional and global solutions to common global problems. As I've said before, America cannot solve the problems of the world alone, and the world cannot solve them without America.

At the same time, given the realities of today's world, we can no longer approach our foreign policy solely country by country, or simply by carving the world into separate regions. With smart power, we will seek to build partnerships that transcend geographic and political boundaries.

In the months ahead, I will press for stronger bilateral, regional, and global cooperation when I meet with leaders of Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, just as I will seek more robust engagement in my discussions with Asian leaders in Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul, and Beijing next week.

In making my first trip as Secretary of State to Asia, I hope to signal that we need strong partners across the Pacific, just as we need strong partners across the Atlantic. We are, after all, both a transatlantic and a transpacific power.

Our relationships with each of the countries I'm visiting, and with all of our partners and allies throughout Asia and the Pacific, are indispensable to our security and prosperity. When we consider the gravest global threats confronting us— financial instability and economic dislocation, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, food security and health emergencies, climate change and energy vulnerability, stateless criminal cartels and human exploitation—it is clear that these threats do not stop at borders or oceans. Pandemics threaten school children in Jakarta and Jacksonville. Global financial crises shrink bank accounts in Sapporo and San Francisco. The dangers posed by nuclear proliferation create worries in Guangzhou as well as Washington. And climate change affects the livelihoods of farmers in China's Hunan province and in America's Midwest. These dangers affect us all, and therefore we all must play a role in addressing them.

So I leave for Asia ready to deliver a message about America's desire for more rigorous and persistent commitment and engagement, ready to work with leaders in Asia to resolve the economic crisis that threatens the Pacific as much as any other region, ready to strengthen our historic partnerships and alliances while developing deeper bonds with all nations, ready to help prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Asia, ready to expand our combined efforts on 21st century challenges like climate change and clean energy, pandemics, and income inequality.

In the Obama Administration, we are also ready to reach beyond ministerial buildings and official meeting halls, as important as those are. We're ready to engage civil society to strengthen the foundations needed to support good governance, free elections, and a free press, wider educational opportunities, stronger healthcare systems, religious tolerance, and human rights.

And we are ready to listen. Actively listening to our partners isn't just a way of demonstrating respect. It can also be a source of ideas to fuel our common efforts. Too often in the recent past, our government has acted reflexively before considering available facts and evidence, or hearing the perspectives of others. But President Obama and I are committed to a foreign policy that is neither impulsive nor ideological, one that values what others have to say. And when we have differences, which we will, we will discuss them frankly and specify those which limit our capacity to cooperate. As part of our dialogues, we will hold ourselves and others accountable as we work to expand human rights and create a world that respects those rights, one where Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi can live freely in her own country, where the people of North Korea can freely choose their own leaders, and where Tibetans and all Chinese people can enjoy religious freedom without fear of prosecution.

Existing problems today, we believe, are opportunities as well. Exercising smart power begins with realistic assessments of the world we inhabit. And this obliges us, no less than other nations, to acknowledge our own contributions to the global problems we face.

Let me start with the global financial crisis that hit us first and hit us deeply. Across the United States today, families are losing jobs, homes, savings, and dreams. But this is not our crisis alone. Its repercussions are also being felt in parts of Asia and elsewhere around the world. We have recently heard forecasts from South Korea's new finance minister that their economy will shrink by 2 percent this year, with 200,000 jobs potentially lost. A Chinese Government survey of villages last week reported that 20 million of the nation's 130 million migrant workers are unemployed. In Japan, a new analysis predicts a larger economic contraction than previously forecast. Indonesia's exports fell by more than 20 percent in December as growth estimates have also fallen. And Taiwan's economy reported a record 44 percent drop in exports. Throughout Asia, the demand for durable goods is way down.

The global financial crisis requires every nation to look inward for solutions, but none of us can afford to become so introspective that we overlook the critical role that international partnerships must play in stabilizing the world's economy and putting all of us back on the path to prosperity. And we cannot respond with a race to erect trade and other barriers. We must remain committed to a system of open and fair trade.

Here at home, our government is working to address the housing crisis and restore the banking system. Congress is expected to pass a stimulus package that represents the largest government effort in a generation to create jobs and increase incomes. China, Australia, and others in Asia are responding vigorously. We need multiple engines working together to reignite global growth.

At the G-20 meeting in Washington in November, leaders pledged to take actions from adjusting fiscal policy to strengthening domestic regulation. The upcoming G-

20 meeting in April in London will provide us with an opportunity to build on that pledge.

Like the financial crisis, other issues also require bilateral as well as regional and global approaches. The United States is committed to maintaining our historic security alliances in Asia and building on those relationships to counter the complex global threats we face. I'm very pleased that Japan and South Korea this week agreed to joint assistance for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, and that both countries continue to work with us on global security, especially in combating piracy off the Horn of Africa.

We will need to work together to address the most acute challenge to stability in Northeast Asia, North Korea's nuclear program. The Obama Administration is committed to working through the Six-Party Talks, and I will discuss with South Korea, Japan, and China how best to get the negotiations back on track. We believe we have an opportunity to move these discussions forward, but it is incumbent upon North Korea to avoid any provocative action and unhelpful rhetoric toward South Korea.

The North Korean Government has committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and to return at an early date to the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We continue to hold them to those commitments. If North Korea is genuinely prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons program, the Obama Administration will be willing to normalize bilateral relations, replace the peninsula's longstanding armistice agreements with a permanent peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and other economic needs of the North Korean people.

On a related matter, I will assure our allies in Japan that we have not forgotten the families of Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. And I will meet with some of those families in Tokyo next week.

Global solutions are essential to addressing climate change and the need for clean sources of energy. Now, climate change is not just an environmental nor an energy issue, it also has implications for our health and our economies and our security, all wrapped up in one.

The rapid appointment that the President and I made of a United States Special Envoy for Climate Change reflects the seriousness we feel about dealing with this urgent threat. And I will be taking Special Envoy Todd Stern with me to Asia next week to begin the discussions that we hope will create the opportunities for cooperation.

Now, our nation has been the largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases, and we acknowledge that we must lead efforts to cut harmful emissions and build a lower-carbon economy. But each of the countries that I'm visiting also have a role to play in this effort. I will press the case for clean energy in both Japan and South Korea, and look for ways to work with Indonesia as well. Orville Schell's commentary in Time magazine this week reminds us that collaboration on clean energy and greater efficiency offers a real opportunity to deepen the overall U.S.-Chinese relationship. So we will work hard with the Chinese to create partnerships that promote cleaner energy sources, greater energy efficiency, technology transfers that can benefit both countries, and other strategies that simultaneously protect the environment and promote economic growth.

While in Beijing, I will visit a clean thermal power plant built with GE and Chinese technology. It serves as an example of the kind of job-creating, bilateral, public-private collaboration that we need so much more of.

Now, you may have heard me describe the portfolio of the State Department as including two of national security's three Ds: defense, diplomacy, and development. Each is essential to advancing our interests and our security. Yet too often, development is regarded as peripheral to our larger foreign policy objectives. This will not be the case in the Obama Administration. We will energetically promote development around the world to expand opportunities that enable citizens, particularly on the margins, and particularly women and children, to fulfill their God-given potential, which we happen to believe will advance our shared security interests. That much of Asia enjoys peace and prosperity today is due in no small part to American efforts over the last half century to support political, economic, security, and educational alliances with Asian nations.

We are proud to have lent American assistance in response to natural disasters, including rebuilding efforts after the tsunami in Indonesia and the cyclone in Burma. And we commend the Indonesian people and government for settling longstanding civil conflict in Aceh that threatened the country's progress, and for similar positive efforts to achieve peace and stability that are working in Timor-Leste.

Indonesia is one of Asia's most dynamic nations, where human energy and aspiration combine to help lead the country to a free and fair system of elections, a free press, a robust civil society, and a prominent role for women in the Indonesian Government. We will support Indonesia and other countries in the region that are actively promoting shared values. And we look forward to working with our other partners and friends in the regions, allies like Thailand and the Philippines, along with Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, to ensure that ASEAN can live up to its charter, to demonstrate the region's capacity for leadership on economic, political, human rights, and social issues.

Let me also thank Australia for its leadership and friendship over decades. While I'm not able to visit Australia on this trip, we know that Australia is one of our most trusted allies in the world. And as we have all seen in the news, wildfires have devastated the state of Victoria during the past week. President Obama and Prime Minister Rudd have discussed the situation by phone. And we have sent forest fire specialists to help the Australians out. We want our Australian friends to know that we mourn with them over the loss of innocent lives in this tragedy, and we remain grateful for our work together in the past and what we will do together in the future.

Let me now give you a brief rundown of some of the key issues that I will be addressing next week, country by country, starting with my first stop in Japan. Our security alliance with Japan, 50 years old next year, has been, and must remain, unshakable. In Tokyo, I will sign the Guam International Agreement, which will position our security alliance to meet the challenges of this time by moving 8,000 American troops from Okinawa to Guam. Japan is also to be commended for taking on a bigger leadership role in addressing the economic crisis in Pakistan and for working on collaborative efforts to explore space, cure disease, and offer relief to victims of disasters around the world. We anticipate an even stronger partnership with Japan that helps preserve the peace and stability of Asia and increasingly focuses on global challenges, from disaster relief to advancing education for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan to alleviating poverty in Africa.

We also will focus on the very fertile ground for cooperation that we believe exists with Indonesia. I don't need to remind you that our new President is well known and much admired there. We now have an opportunity for stronger partnerships on education, energy, and food security. The Indonesian Government has also suggested the creation of a deeper partnership with the United States. This idea represents a positive approach to areas of common concern, and we are committed to working with Indonesia to pursue such a partnership with a concrete agenda.

In South Korea, we will be visiting with one of our staunchest historic allies. And certainly, everyone who has followed the history of South Korea joins me in admiration for the transition that we have observed from static conditions of the past century to the dynamic state that South Korea finds itself in today. The United States and South Korea are both committed to expanding trade in a manner that benefits both of our countries, and we will work together to that end.

As members of the Asia Society, you know very well how important China is and how essential it is that we have a positive, cooperative relationship. It is vital to peace and prosperity, not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but worldwide. Our mutual economic engagement with China was evident during the economic growth of the past two decades. It is even clearer now in economic hard times and in the array— excuse me—in the array of global challenges we face, from nuclear security to climate change to pandemic disease and so much else.

Now, some believe that China on the rise is, by definition, an adversary. To the contrary, we believe that the United States and China can benefit from and contribute to each other's successes. It is in our interest to work harder to build on areas of common concern and shared opportunities. China has already asserted itself in positive ways as chair of the Six-Party Talks and in its participation in international peacekeeping efforts. And our two countries, I'm happy to say, will resume mid-level military-to-military discussions later this month. And we look forward to further improved relations across the Taiwan Strait.

Even with our differences, the United States will remain committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China, one that we believe is essential to America's future peace, progress, and prosperity.

An ancient Chinese story tells of warring feudal states, whose soldiers find themselves on a boat together crossing a wide river in a storm. Instead of fighting one another, they work together and survive. Now, from this story comes a Chinese aphorism that says, “When you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together.” The wisdom of that aphorism must continue to guide us today.

So I will leave for Asia Sunday with a firm commitment to work very hard with our partners across the Pacific, to strengthen our engagement so that the positive transformations of the past halfcentury are replicated, mirrored, made stronger and more obvious in this century. We have such an opportunity that I hope we will seize, but it is not just up to our government to do so. It is also up to Americans across our country, those of you here in the Asia Society, in the private sector, in academia, in labor and the professions, in nongovernmental organizations all. Let us commit ourselves to providing the kind of outreach and responsiveness, understanding, and commitment that will lead not just to a better understanding, but positive actions to improve the lives of our own people here and those who live in Asia today.

Thank you all very much.

Ms. Desai. Please stay seated for a little while longer. First of all, thank you so much for such an amazing, encompassing speech that I know is going to be heard around the world, as it is being heard now.

The Secretary has actually agreed to take a few questions. I want to just remind you all that we really want to focus on East Asia. So those of who say, “How come she didn't say anything about India,” we're not doing it now—just so you know. Because there's another time. And the fact is that the Special Representative Richard Holbrooke is actually in South Asia now, and we don't want all of our heavy power all to be in the same place at the same time. So do not ask those questions. And what I'm going to do is that we actually have questions from online audience, as well as here, and we have selected a few to see if you would give some answers.

The first one is very simple, but we would love to hear from you about what you think is the significance of having your first trip as Secretary of State to Asia and not somewhere else?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I believe it demonstrates clearly that our new Administration wants to focus a lot of time and energy in working with Asian partners and all the nations in the Pacific region because we know that so much of our future depends upon our relationships there. And we equally know that our capacity to solve a lot of the global challenges that we're confronting depends upon decisions that are made there. So it was an easy choice for me to make. Obviously, we are focused on the many problems that exist today that we're confronting.

Right off the bat, actually, the very first day I walked into the State Department and the second day of his Administration, both President Obama and Vice President Biden came to the State Department to make the announcements that I had asked them to do, naming George Mitchell as our Special Envoy to the Middle East and Richard Holbrooke as our Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. So clearly, we are focused on many parts of the world.

We are in preparation right now for the NATO Summit that will be coming up in Europe. I will be going to Cairo on March the 2nd for the Donors Conference that Egypt is hosting on humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza. I will be helping to tee up what we do with the Summit of Americas that is coming in April that will be very important for our neighbors to the south, as well as ourself. We have a lot of challenges in Africa that we are working hard to address.

So it's a big world, and we have a lot of work to do. And I think there has been a general feeling that perhaps we didn't pay an appropriate amount of attention to Asia over the last years, being very preoccupied with other parts of the world, so I wanted to start at the very beginning demonstrating our commitment there.

Ms. Desai. Thank you. That was from Robert Kindle of ARD German Broadcasting from Washington, D.C.

The next question is from our own Vice Chair sitting in San Francisco, Jack Wadsworth. And he's asking, and I will paraphrase the question, that under the Paulson-Bush era, the primary focus of U.S.-China dialogue has been economic. What do you think are the risks or potential benefits of broadening this agenda?

Secretary Clinton. Well, it's an excellent question, and it's a apt description. Secretary Geithner and I have already met about this because we believe that the Department of State and the Treasury Department should be playing a mutually reinforcing role with respect to the broad range of issues that the United States and China should be discussing. We think that this provides us with the opportunity to engage at all levels of government simultaneously. How we're going to structure those dialogues is something that I will be discussing with the Chinese leadership this coming week. But it is important that we understand how broad and deep the concerns that we share truly are.

You know, I made a reference to energy and climate change. We are, as I said, the historically largest emitter, but China has just surpassed us. They are now the largest emitter. And this has such direct effects on healthcare and indices of quality of life, as well as the economy and so much else. So we want to have a very broad discussion. How we structure it is something we're going to work out mutually with the Chinese.

Ms. Desai. Well, sometimes people have said that since Secretary Geithner would be so focused on the economic stimulus package here and what happens at home, does that mean that State will actually take more of a leadership responsibility for the organization of these under your leadership?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we know that the Secretary, along with much of the rest of our government, is focused on getting our own economy up and going. But what we can do and the sequencing of how effective our recovery will be is very intimately connected with what the Chinese are doing and the decisions they're making. So the economic dialogue is a broad one to start with. There are aspects of it that I think, you know, very much belong within the Treasury portfolio. But there are other aspects which cut across the entire range of issues that we would like to address with the Chinese. So that's why Secretary Geithner and I have been working out our own approach.

There have always been, alongside the strategic economic dialogue that Treasury led during the Bush Administration, senior dialogues on a range of issues, plus defense-related discussions. So there's been a lot going on, but partly out of choices that were made in the last eight years, the economic dialogue, led by the Treasury Department, really did assume a larger role than a lot of these other concerns. And we think that it is in our mutual interest to work out a way that all of these important issues are discussed on an ongoing basis, and that's what we intend to do.

Ms. Desai. Well, I must say from the Asia Society perspective, it's wonderful that you and the Obama Administration generally have focused so much on climate change because of our own work under the leadership of Orville Schell. But I should also tell you that Tim Geithner happens to be a good friend of this institution because Peter, his father, who is the head of the Asia region in Ford Foundation, was also a good friend. So we're delighted that you will be working together, and we hope he will be here as well.

Secretary Clinton. I will extend the invitation.

Ms. Desai. Right. Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. I don't know if they'll let him out of Washington for anything—

Ms. Desai. Not yet. Not yet.

Secretary Clinton.—anything yet.

Ms. Desai. This is an interesting question. North Korean Philharmonic wants to hold a concert in New York, in response to when the New York Philharmonic went there. Is there any condition in changing the atmosphere before such visas could be granted?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I am hopeful that we will be able to engage the North Korean Government in the kind of serious discussion that I referred to in my remarks, one that could lead with their fulfilling their commitments regarding denuclearization and nonproliferation to bilateral relations and opportunities for the kind of normalization that I think many would hope to see. So much of it depends upon the choices that they make.

But we will look at all of these individual decisions—like the Philharmonic coming here, for example—and consider whether or not that does help us to try to change the atmosphere to increase the connections between North Koreans, and certainly, Americans get it off of just the government-to-government Six-Party Talk and bilateral discussions that have been the, you know, predominant or only way of that kind of formal relationship.

So much of it depends upon the choices that the North Korean Government makes. And certainly, we are hopeful that they will not engage in provocative actions and words that could create a much more difficult path for us to walk with them.

Ms. Desai. This is about the Bretton Woods Institution. Some experts have called for a revision of the Bretton Woods Institution and the UN—especially the Security Council, as you know—so that it would account primarily also for the increasing role of Asian states in global, economic and political affairs. How, if at all, do you think these institutions might accommodate and engage a rising Asia?

Secretary Clinton. I think the discussions that have been started in the G-20 and also at the G-8 level, as well as within multilateral institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, as well as within governments, should vigorously consider and debate whether we need new institutions, whether we need to, you know, reframe some of the regulatory processes that need to be in place. This should all be on the table, and I know that certainly, the Obama Administration is going to be implementing new regulations in our own economy that we think will make the free market work better and be more effective without the kind of distortion and interference that some of the decisions that we've seen over the last several years have caused.

So I think that there is a great—a great receptivity, but the devil is in the details, and there hasn't been the kind of hard work yet done to determine whether the— you know, the son of Bretton Woods is a realistic possibility or not. And I'm hoping that that will be part of the broader agenda. I know it's on the minds of the President and the Treasury Secretary and the National Economic Council led by Larry Summers.

So from my perspective, I think it's important for the United States to lead and rebuild confidence in our own markets to demonstrate that we've learned the lessons that the last months have unfortunately brought home to us, in order to both answer the legitimate criticism from others around the world and assuage their concerns about our economic position. In order to continue to be the preeminent economic power in the United States, we have to take actions here that will position us for that kind of future. And I hope that with the President's leadership, you'll see that happen.

Ms. Desai. As you have said numerous times, actually, that often in Asia, people have said after their last financial crisis that we gave them lots of advice on what to do. And many Asians now come back and say, “But America hasn't followed its own advice.” And therefore, we have to reclaim that position again—

Secretary Clinton. That's right.

Ms. Desai.—of credibility. It's important.

Secretary Clinton. I think that—I mean, everyone talks about our current financial crisis as being as much one of confidence and trust as of, you know, credit. And I really believe that we've got to take steps here in order to demonstrate exactly what Vishakha is saying, that we've cleaned up our own house and we've done it in a smart way, where we haven't crippled our capacity to, you know, be the global, you know, credit center, to be a market maker, to do all that is done so well historically in this city.

But you don't have to travel very far to hear the voices of doubt and even the explicit criticism coming from the leaders of other countries. And it's my hope that, you know, again, we'll have a public-private partnership to address these concerns, answer them, and, you know, lead the global recovery so that we can once again, you know, be promoting and creating prosperity here at home as well as around the world.

Ms. Desai. This question is partly related, but somewhat different, and this question is from Michele Ehlers and she's a co-founder of Global Visionary—Global Leadership Network in Fremont, California.

And her question is: How can we upgrade our American dream to a global vision that the earth can sustain and that is supportable for every human being? If we Americans wish to be known for our leadership in the world and be recognized as true partners in global development, we need to take on a new model of life that's sustainable and possible for every human being. How can you best advocate that?

Secretary Clinton. That's a great question, and it was a question that maybe five years ago would have been, you know, thought of as kind of touchy-feely, to be honest about it—and would not have been entertained seriously in a lot of the boardrooms and the decision-makers' meetings and halls of legislatures.

But I think it is an issue that we have to be smart about addressing. You see, the threat of global climate change, the intimidation created as we've seen in Europe by control over energy supplies, the fear that globalization has not spread its benefits broadly and deeply enough, those are all opportunities for Americans, primarily in the private sector and also in our government, to start kind of solving these problems, and to do so with the same level of energy and ingenuity that we have brought to problems in the past.

We have such an opportunity here, and I'm hoping that, you know, some of the provisions that made their way through the difficult negotiations over the stimulus package will have the result of helping to jumpstart and support research. We've got to get back to supporting basic science in America. It's one of our greatest advantages. And we have not been keeping up with our potential for leading the way in science, technology, and research. So I would hope that the answer to the question asked doesn't, in any Americans' minds, sort of create the image that somehow, we would have to give up our way of life. I mean, that seems to always end up being the debate, that, you know, this will be economically ruinous for us, this will cause us to fall behind, we'll lose out in what the American dream should be, in a material sense.

And I just don't buy that. I don't believe that is the way forward. Now, do we have to change some of how we live? Yes. But, you know, changing to compact fluorescent bulbs is not the kind of sacrifice that is going to undermine the quality of our life. You know, it—

Ms. Desai. You know, in Australia, now they already have made that as a law.

Secretary Clinton. That's right.

Ms. Desai. You know, so—

Secretary Clinton. That's right. And so I think there's—you know, you can go from the small steps that each of us can take, which, in the aggregate, would add up to significant changes, to the kind of governmental driven decisions that you'll see more of in the Obama Administration. Our new Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is absolutely focused on how he can make the case that changes in our uses of energy, and in how we both create it and deliver it, would go a long way toward enabling us to live a better, more sustainable life. You know, even though the legislative changes that have been made in California over the last 35 years have resulted in a lower per capita usage of electricity than in the rest of the country— and I don't think people in California feel like they're deprived.

So part of what we have to do is have the leadership in both the public and the private sectors look to academia—you know, ask for good ideas—and then begin implementing them, and do so with courage and a pioneering spirit. You know, we are supposed to be the problem solvers. You know, that's who we're supposed to be. And it's time, when we face these global challenges, we demonstrate that that's who we continue to be. And I'm excited by it. I think, you know, our children and our children's children will live very well if we make the right decisions now. And if we don't, I don't think we can look them in the eyes and make that claim, and I don't want to live like that as an American. I think it's far preferable that we step up to our responsibilities, and I know that's what the President is trying to encourage us to do.

Ms. Desai. Well, it's sort of—you talk about smart power in international relations. This is about smart energy use—

Secretary Clinton. That's right.

Ms. Desai.—domestically and—

Secretary Clinton. Yeah, smart grids.

Ms. Desai. Exactly.

Secretary Clinton. Smart cars.

Ms. Desai. Right.

Secretary Clinton. You know, I mean, it's not going to happen overnight. But the idea that we just continue putting off the future when we're supposed to be the country of the future is so contrary to our nature. And it is, I think, causing some puzzlement around the world. But also, people are going to say, “Well, we'll take advantage of those opportunities.”

You know, whether or not we have a modern battery industry is up to us. Whether or not we have a smart electric grid that will save energy and be able to decentralize energy production and usage is up to us. Whether or not we sort our way through our automobile crisis and end up with cars that are energy savers as—insofar as transportation permits is up to us. And you can go down the list. These are not somebody else's responsibility, and I think we have to have a very significant government commitment, and that's what we're trying to do in the Obama Administration.

It's still difficult to make the case. I mean, a lot of what was in the stimulus originally, which would have set the path for us, you know, was not left in because it was thought to be, you know, economically challenging, should be left to—completely to the private sector. Well, we forget we electrified the country because the government stepped in. You know, we have so many examples from our past where we went as far as we could with the private sector, but frankly, it wasn't profitable to bring electricity to the northern reaches of New York and the Adirondacks or northern Arkansas. The interstate highway system—we built highways to places that were barely populated, which are now booming. I mean, we made decisions that drove our growth and they were government and business decisions, and I think we've got to get back to thinking about that and feeling like we're all on the American team for the next decade so that we can reassert our position economically here at home and around the world.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks in Tokyo, Japan

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, and I am delighted to be back in Tokyo. I have come to Asia as my first trip as Secretary of State to convey that America's relationships across the Pacific are indispensible to addressing the challenges and seizing the opportunities of the 21st century. By strengthening our historic Asian alliances, starting right here in Japan, and forging new partnerships with emerging nations, we can begin together to build networks around the world to help us solve problems that none of us can solve alone.

The bilateral relationship between the United States and Japan is a cornerstone of our efforts around the world. I will be speaking with Japanese leaders and citizens during my visit, and we will be looking for ways to collaborate on issues that go beyond just our mutual concerns to really addressing the global concerns, including climate change and clean energy, Afghanistan, Pakistan, nuclear proliferation, and other common concerns.

The U.S.-Japanese alliance is vitally important to both of our countries, to the Asia-Pacific region, and to the world. And our partnership stretches back half a century. Its foundation has been and always will be a commitment to our shared security and prosperity. But we also know that we have to work together to address the global financial crisis, which is affecting all of us. And we have to work together, as we are doing, to try to assist those around the world afflicted by poverty, natural disasters, and disease. We have a longstanding tradition of exchange and cooperation between our two countries, and between the people of our two nations. We have cooperation in the fields of education and science, and through programs such as the Fulbright Exchange and the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

With us this evening are some of the Japanese citizens who have been part of the exchanges. We have two preeminent Japanese astronauts, both space pioneers whose work is indicative of the ongoing scientific cooperation between Japan, the United States, and our other partners around the world. It is an honor for me to meet Dr. Mukai, who is known and admired for her participation in two space shuttle missions. And I wish to acknowledge and welcome Ms. Yama[zaki], who is on her way to becoming the first Japanese mother to fly in space when she joins the International Space Station next year.

I am also pleased to be joined by members of Japan's Special Olympics Committee, the leaders and the coaches and the other officials, and most importantly, the athletes who have just returned from the 2009 Special Olympics World Games in Boise, Idaho. I want to congratulate all of the athletes. We salute you for your accomplishments in the athletic arena, as well as the message of peace and kinship that your participation in the Special Olympics sends around the world.

I am looking forward to my opportunities to meet with government leaders and citizens in Tokyo. I look forward to these discussions, and to do the work together with the government and people of Japan that will continue our long friendship and alliance, and will enable us to move forward with confidence and optimism into this new century. Thank you for this gracious and generous welcome back to Tokyo and Japan.

Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed by CBS in Tokyo, Japan

Q. Madame Secretary, thank you for taking the time this afternoon. Now, you have talked a lot about coordinating the response between America and Asia on this global fiscal crisis. But we have a little news today. The Japanese finance minister is resigning under somewhat embarrassing circumstances. Does this complicate your efforts to coordinate things with the Japanese?

Secretary Clinton. I don't think so. I think that the Japanese Government understands what it's up against, and the loss of the finance minister doesn't, in any way, undermine what I know to be the commitment by the government to address the very serious economic contraction.

But what is important is that we get prepared for the G-20 in London, in very early April, because Japan is the second-largest economy in the world. We're the largest. And it's incumbent upon both of us to, you know, really help lead the world as well as our own countries out of this economic challenge.

Q. You know the stimulus in our own country was very hard to coordinate.

Secretary Clinton. Yes, yes.

Q. So how—any concrete examples of how you coordinate a fiscal response globally?

Secretary Clinton. I think there are several ways to do it. One is the fact that we did, in the United States, commit to a very large stimulus. I know that it was a difficult political decision, but it was the right one, and we are going to begin implementing that as quickly as possible.

Japan is also looking at what it can do to stimulate its own economy, because we've got to stimulate demand in our respective economies as we then reach out and try to figure out how to help shore up economies of smaller or emerging nations, how we coordinate with a country like China so that it too tries to stimulate its economy and create some internal demand. I have discussed at length with the foreign minister what could be done to actually take one of Japan's great strengths, which is its leadership in clean energy and energy efficiency, and begin trying to, you know, marry that to both economic opportunity and the global climate change challenge.

So there's going to be a lot of opportunity for us to work together. The important thing is that we don't build walls between us, that we don't engage in activity that will worsen the financial situation, and Japan and the United States both understand that.

Q. All right. I want to talk about when you were candidate Hillary Clinton. It wasn't that long ago. But when you were candidate Hillary Clinton, you were pretty brutal, accusing the Chinese of cheating on trade, especially in currency manipulation. “I'll stand up to China,” you said. “I will aggressively crack down on China.” Those are your words from the campaign.

Now that you're Secretary of State, is that still the plan? “I'll aggressively crack down on China?”

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think you also heard that from President Obama when he was campaigning and others as well, because there are concerns that we share. But the overwhelming situation that we confront today is of a global economic crisis and the world in an economic contraction. And I think what we have to do is face the situation as we see it today, and that's going to require very careful cooperation.

When I'm in China at the end of this week, certainly I'll congratulate them for having passed a stimulus, which is a significant step on their part, and look for ways that we can partner to try to get the economy and growth moving again. So I think it's like in any political campaign. That was at a different time when we weren't facing the kind of difficult situations we face today.

Q. That sounds like you feel forced to pull the punch.

Secretary Clinton. No, not at all, Wyatt. You know, I think that you will hear from the Obama Administration about the opportunities that we hope to pursue with China. But we also know that there are differences that we have. At this moment in time, there is no difference between our joint commitment to try to work our way through this economic crisis.

And we're very interdependent. You know, the Chinese economy is very dependent on selling a lot of goods to the United States. As the United States sees increasing unemployment and consumers are cutting back and saving more, that has a direct impact on the Chinese economy. As our government goes into deeper deficit in order to fund this stimulus, we are relying on the Chinese Government to continue to buy our debt.

So one result of this economic crisis has been a clear understanding on the part of everyone as to how interdependent the global economy is, and in particular, the Chinese and American economies.

Q. But briefly, do you still think that the—do you still think that China is cheating on trade, is costing American jobs?

Secretary Clinton. I think that what China is trying to do now is what the United States is trying to do: How do we get back to growth? And China has a deep commitment to improving the lives of their people, as we do of our people. And I want to make sure that we play by the same rules, that we have a level playing field.

But at this moment, the game is how do we get both of our economies moving again. You know, once we're growing again, once we have a robust economy creating new jobs in America, once the Chinese are dealing with their unemployment problem by creating more jobs and our trade is once again moving back and forth, there will be other problems for us to address. But right now, I think we are all fixated on what we're going to do to get global growth up and going.

Q. All right. Less than a minute here, but I really want to get to Indonesia. This is fascinating. The world's largest Muslim country.

Secretary Clinton. Right.

Q. Clearly, the United States—you— are seeking a broader, more friendly relationship with Indonesia. Why is this so important to you?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Indonesia has shown an extraordinary commitment to democracy in the last several years. Yes, of course, it is the world's largest Muslim country. But now, it is a vibrant, dynamic democracy where women are actively involved in the political and economic life of the country, where many of the longstanding internal problems, from East Timor to Aceh, have been resolved, where there is a really impressive commitment to a positive future that Indonesia will play in the region. So I—

Q. Is this trip—if I might, is this trip important to the broader outreach to Muslims around the world?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think it is, of course, that. But more than that, it is country-specific. Indonesia deserves our attention because of what Indonesia has accomplished. And I'm very proud that I will be visiting on my very first trip as Secretary of State. You know, President Obama has a special affection for Indonesia because of the years he spent there as a child. I think we both feel that the progress that Indonesia has shown in and of itself is very noteworthy. The fact that it is such a large Muslim country with a diverse political structure where the voices of many different people are now being heard makes it an even more impressive story.

Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed by Yomiuri Shimbun in Tokyo, Japan

Q. So let me start with the U.S.-Japan relations. Prior to your departure, you made clear your purpose is to send a strong signal of the importance of U.S.-Japan relations. And indeed, you've sent a really strong signal. And the Prime Minister, I understand, is going to Washington next week.

Secretary Clinton. Yes.

Q. My first question is why? Why it's so—why you attach such a high priority to Japan?

Secretary Clinton. I really believe that the relationship between the United States and Japan is a cornerstone of our foreign policy. We are the first and second largest economies in the world, and because of that, we have some very significant responsibilities to try to work our way through this current economic crisis. Our security alliance will be 50 years old next year, and the role that the extended deterrence has provided because of that alliance has enabled Japan to be developed in a secure and peaceful way.

The increasing role that Japan is playing in development aid, in Africa, in Afghanistan, in the Middle East, the willingness of the Japanese Government and people to assume responsibilities for such international concerns as piracy—just everywhere one turns, you see that Japan is a responsible actor in the world. And the challenges that we face in dealing with global climate change and clean energy and terrorism and nuclear proliferation, all of that is hard to imagine succeeding without a strong U.S.-Japanese partnership.

Q. What about current Japan's political—let me say, crisis. Today, the finance minister has expressed his will to quit. And do you think it's possible to strengthen alliance and this kind of political—so shaky under the circumstances?

Secretary Clinton. I think so. I believe that the Japanese nation is a resilient and strong one, and the basic constitutional structure is endurable. So for me, it is a matter of internal concern as to governments and who is part of them. I think that we change our government, but the bedrock relationship is the most important attribute of the U.S.-Japanese future. So I leave it to the Japanese people to determine by whom they wish to be governed. But we look forward to deepening and broadening our partnership, no matter what the political future might be.

Q. I understand later today you are going to meet Ozawa the (inaudible) party in Japan. And needless to say, they insist to revise the Guam agreement you have just signed today. Aren't you concerned the—or you may see difficulty in strengthening alliance, once Democratic Party comes to power —it's getting likely and likely.

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think a responsible nation follows the agreements that have been entered into. And the agreement that I signed today with Foreign Minister Nakasone is one between our two nations, regardless of who's in power. It was negotiated, in large measure, under the Republican presidency of George W. Bush, but it will be implemented under the Democratic President Barack Obama. And I would expect Japan to do the same.

Q. So there's no room to amend or revise the—this?

Secretary Clinton. No, it's an agreement that should be implemented.

Q. I see. Going back to your message, if you allow me to be frank, end of 2007 we have achieved kind of—another kind of message from you. And I'm talking about Foreign Affairs. It's a— it's very widely read in Japan. And you described the relation with China as the most important relations—relationship in the world, while you mention twice— only twice about Japan. Have you changed your mind?

Secretary Clinton. No, I think that that is being somewhat misinterpreted. The relationship with Japan is a solid, enduring one that is constantly important and a source of very significant cooperation. But I think in both Japan and the United States, it is very important for us to develop a positive relationship with China. That is a very important task. It may be the most important task, because our relationship is one that we can rely on. We have developed it over 50 years. Insofar as I can tell, there is no reason why it should change. It should get deeper and broader.

But I think it is fair to say that our relationship with China is still developing, as is Japan's relationship with China, so it's important that we focus on it and that we pay attention and try to figure out how we're going to work out the way of cooperation with China.

Mr. Wood. Time for two more questions.

Q. Let me discuss about North Korea. You met with the abductee families? Could you tell me about your impression?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I was very touched by their stories. It's one thing to read about pain that families have been suffering because of the abduction of their loved ones. And it is very personal to sit with a brother who lost a sister and parents who lost a daughter and to see their pictures at the time that they disappeared, and to hear about the daily anguish that the families feel, because they have—they heard no word for years, did not know what happened, and then they learn that their loved ones have been abducted. And it seems so cruel to have done it in the first place, and then not to provide information and let these people come home with, you know, their own families. So I reassured the families that I met with that the abductee issue is part of the Six-Party Talks; it remains a matter of grave concern to the United States.

Q. It seems I have one more question. Another topic on North Korea is missiles. And during the press conference, you mentioned the possible missile launch, and also you mentioned your agreement is to deter any attacks by all means. So what the United States can do to—with Japan in order to prevent a missile launch?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we have made it clear that we consider it both provocative and unhelpful. The North Koreans, as you know, have said that it is a space launch, but they have not complied with the rules that govern notification about space launches that have been agreed to by the international community. And we will continue to seek ways to discourage them from launching a missile for any purpose.

This is part of the overall negotiation that we're engaged in. We want to end their nuclear weapons program and remove any fissile material that they have in possession. And we want to come up with controls on their missile program. And of course, we want to deal with, you know, the human rights issues, like the abductee issue.

So we are considering the steps that we would take. But I don't believe that even if they were to launch a missile that that is a threat at this point to anyone. But they need to be on notice that the United States will work to both deter any attack on Japan and provide the deterrence that is necessary. And we will defend Japan as we have agreed to do for 50 years.

Q. Just a short follow-up. That means missile issue can be part of the Six-Party Talks?

Secretary Clinton. Yes, yes.

Q. It can be—so added on to the meeting?

Secretary Clinton. Well, it's been on the edges of the Six-Party Talks. But it is part of our overall concern with the North Koreans.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Hirofumi Nakasone delivered these remarks in Tokyo, Japan

Foreign Minister Nakasone. A while ago, I had a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and myself, and I think we had a very good meeting, and let me discuss the content of that meeting. I told her that I welcomed the fact that she chose Japan as the destination for her first overseas trip as Secretary of State, because that is an indication that Secretary Clinton and the U.S. Administration attaches importance to Japan and the Japan-U.S. relations.

At the Senate hearings, the Secretary mentioned that the Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of U.S. policy and for the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region—that this alliance is indispensable for that. And I certainly agree that this is very important, the alliance is very important, so I couldn't agree more, that being our relations. But also, globally, as we face various challenges, I believe we have to further step up Japan-U.S. alliance, and we agreed on that. In the meeting, as a foreign leader to be invited to the White House by the U.S. President, President Obama—as you conveyed to us, an invitation by President Obama to invite Prime Minister Aso on the 24th of February, that the Japanese Foreign Minister will be the first foreign leader to be invited—again, a reflection of the importance of Japan-U.S. relationship that we most welcome this.

Prime Minister Aso very gladly accepts this invitation and would like to visit the United States with the consent of (inaudible). And through Japan-U.S. cooperation, we would like to make the necessary preparations. This early bilateral summit meeting, I believe, will indicate to the entire world that the first and the second economic powers in the world will together address the financial and economic difficulties that are confronting the world.

We too see instabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, and Secretary Clinton expressed the U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan, including nuclear deterrents, and we welcome this. With regard to the realignment of U.S. forces, we agreed that we will steadily implement this realignment on the basis of a roadmap from the viewpoint of alleviating burdens on Okinawa and local communities while maintaining deterrents. The Guam Agreement we signed is a reflection of that firm commitment of the two countries vis-à-vis the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. We agreed to aim at building an affluent, stable, and open East Asian region, and in that, we shared the hope that China will play a constructive role in the international community.

With regard to the North Korean issue, we agreed on the importance of resolving, in a comprehensive manner, the abduction issue, nuclear, and missile and other pending issues. And we also agreed to further step up Japan-U.S. coordination and Japan, U.S., and South Korea coordination at the Six-Party Talks towards the realization of complete denuclearization of the peninsula. And we also agreed that our two countries will further step up our efforts with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan, because the stabilization of Afghanistan and Pakistan is a challenge for the entire international community. I also proposed our preparedness to host a Pakistan support conference, and towards this realization, I meant that we agreed that we will step up cooperation between our two countries, as well as consult with other countries and institutions concerned.

Now, the international community today is faced with numerous difficulties and challenges such as climate change and energy, financial and global economic issues, nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, development and healthcare in Africa, global—other global challenges including UN Security Council reform as well as international situations such as the Middle East peace, counter piracy measures off Somalia, et cetera. And we agreed to further strengthen our partnership in addressing these issues.

As I mentioned, we had a very good meeting and we agreed to further step up the information exchange and policy coordination on strategically important challenges. And especially between I, myself, and Secretary Clinton, we agreed to get in touch and consult with each other at any time by phone and other means, even when there is no specific agenda or issue. Thank you.

Moderator. Thank you very much. Secretary Clinton, please.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Foreign Minister Nakasone. I first met the foreign minister 18 years ago, and so it was a great pleasure to renew our acquaintances in this new setting. And I thank you for your hospitality, and for the broad-ranging discussion that we had today.

The alliance between the United States and Japan is a cornerstone of our foreign policy. And working together to deal with the multitude of issues that affect not only Asia, but the entire world, is a high priority of the Obama Administration. I was very pleased to extend an invitation on behalf of President Obama to welcome Prime Minister Aso to Washington, D.C. on February 24th. This will be the first foreign leader visit that President Obama will be receiving at the White House.

We have just signed the Guam International Agreement on behalf of our two nations. This agreement reflects the commitment we have to modernize our military posture in the Pacific. It reinforces the core of our alliance, the mission to ensure the defense of Japan against attack and to deter any attack by all necessary means. It enshrines our two nations' shared contributions in carrying out the realignment of our forces and the relocation of marines from Okinawa to Guam.

This is one more example of the strong and vibrant alliance that we enjoy. Mr. Nakasone and I ranged across the world. Of course, there are matters that we are concerned about on a bilateral basis. But equally, we are concerned about what we can do together to address the challenges and seize the opportunities of this time. We addressed the economic challenges facing our two countries and the world as a whole, which demand a coordinated global response. As the first and second largest economies in the world, we understand those responsibilities, and we also know the importance of making sure our economies work on behalf of our own citizens. So it is a great responsibility that both Japan and the United States assume. Japan has been a leader in laying the groundwork for a clean energy future, and we look forward to working together on a bilateral and multilateral basis on energy and climate change.

With respect to North Korea, we discussed the importance of very close coordination in our approach to the Six-Party Talks. We must advance our efforts to secure the complete and verifiable denuclearization of North Korea. The possible missile launch that North Korea is talking about would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward. I know the abductee issue is of great concern here in Japan, and I will be meeting with families later today to express my personal sympathy and our concern about what happened to those who were abducted.

I want to commend Japan because this nation has been a leader in promoting stability and prosperity in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The minister shared with me in very particular detail the amount of work and the financial contributions that Japan has undertaken, and I pledged highlevel U.S. participation in the Pakistan donors conference that will be held later. I also want to thank Japan and the Japanese people for your support in Operation Enduring Freedom. It's been very important for our overall success of the coalition mission in Afghanistan. I also appreciate Japan's dispatch of two naval vessels to the Gulf of Aden to help fight this scourge of piracy.

There is so much that we discussed that it is hard to do it justice in this short review. But let me underscore how closely we will be working together. We've already discussed how we will have our ministries—the Foreign Ministry and the State Department—work on economic, climate change, clean energy, and other issues of great responsibility and importance.

I am delighted to be back in Japan. I looked at that old picture of us, Minister, and a lot of time has passed, 18 years since we first met in the United States. But I know that our enduring relationship on behalf of our two nations is as strong as ever. And it will be our responsibility to chart that course into the future. I'm looking forward to hearing from some of the young people in Japan when I later am privileged to be at Tokyo University, because everything we do is about their future, and we share a great hope for the kind of future that the young people of both Japan and the United States will have in a world of peace, progress, and prosperity. Thank you.

Moderator. Thank you very much. We would like to entertain questions from the Japanese press first. Please, (inaudible).

Q. A question for Secretary Clinton. The fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, and so on, I wonder how you appreciate Japan's contribution, and what you would hope to get from Japan? And you also signed the relocation agreement, but Okinawa prefecture is seeking the correction or modification of the air station replacement facility.

And now, in the meeting you were having with Mr. Ozawa, I wonder if you can exchange views on the Futenma station—Air Station issue.

Secretary Clinton. Well, with respect to Afghanistan, we greatly appreciate the work that the Japanese Government has already undertaken in supporting coalition efforts and in contributing to the improvement of life for the people of Afghanistan. I invited the minister to have someone work with us on our policy review of Afghanistan and Pakistan, because we want to have the benefit of the experience of the Japanese involvement as we go forward to determine the approach that we will be taking. I'm very pleased that we were able to sign the agreement concerning Guam. It embodies the understandings that exist between our two nations, and we intend to move forward to implement it.

Mr. Wood. Next question will be Paul Richter of the Los Angeles Times.

Q. Yes. Madame Secretary, Pakistan has reached an agreement with militants in the Northwest Territories that will halt government military offenses there in the hope of reaching peace, and I wonder if you have any concern that this might end up being a capitulation to a strategy that hasn't worked in the past.

And Mr. Foreign Minister, I'd like to get your specific thoughts about what you'd like the U.S. to do on the abductees issue.

Secretary Clinton. Well, Paul, I think that the decision that was announced by the Government of Pakistan has to be thoroughly understood, and we're in the process of pursuing that at this time. Obviously, we believe that the activity by the extremist elements in Pakistan poses a direct threat to the Government of Pakistan, as well as to the security of the United States, Afghanistan, and a number of other nations not only in the immediate region.

So before I comment on what its meaning might be, I want to be sure that we have as good an understanding of both the Pakistan Government's intention and the actual agreed-upon language. And that I don't have at this time, so I want to wait until we can provide that.

Foreign Minister Nakasone. With regard to what sort of support we would get from the United States concerning the abduction issue, well, over the years— well, or President Obama and Secretary Clinton have been saying that they are very much concerned about this abduction issue, concerned by North Korea, and that they have expressed their deep sympathies.

Having had my meeting with Secretary Clinton—and of course, North Korean issues are not just abduction issues, but there is the nuclear issue, missile issue, as well as the abduction issue, but especially with regard to the abduction issue, she expressed that she will continue to support us strongly and help us.

Following this meeting, I understand the Secretary is going to meet with the families of the abductees. So, from this fact alone, you can see that the Secretary is very much concerned about this abduction issue. And it's not just an issue for Japan and the United States, but we also need the cooperation of other countries, Republic of Korea, et cetera, for the earliest possible resolution of the problem.

I would like to receive third question from the Japanese press, (inaudible).

Q. A question first for Foreign Minister Nakasone. From the experience of the U.S.-North Korea rapprochement under the Democratic Clinton Administration and the delisting of North Korea by the Bush Administration, there are people who are concerned here in Japan that the Obama Administration might become more easy on North Korea. And I wonder if that concern has been allayed.

Now, with regard to reconstruction contributions in Afghanistan, I wonder how you appreciate Japan's support, and what you would expect of Japan, Secretary Clinton.

Foreign Minister Nakasone. Well, let me first answer the question. As I have mentioned earlier, with regard to North Korea-related issues, the U.S. is very concerned. And also through the Six-Party Talks, we believe we need to work on the denuclearization of North Korea. And also, we have been—in fact, over the years, we have been addressing these issues, including denuclearization and missile and abduction issues.

Japan and U.S. should maintain close contacts and also through cooperation with South Korea, Russia, and China. And it is our intent to, through this cooperation, try to resolve these problems. We are not, therefore, concerned that the U.S. policy vis-à-vis North Korea is going to change in any significant way.

And also, with regard to abduction issue, as was mentioned, we can count on further cooperation by the United States. So we would count on that sort of cooperation, and make remaining close contacts and coordination with the United States.

Secretary Clinton. Well, let me underscore the commitment that the United States has to the denuclearization of North Korea, and to the prevention of further proliferation by the North Koreans. This is a matter of great concern. We discussed it in-depth today. And the Six-Party Talks are the framework that we believe is best positioned to make progress on our goals with respect to North Korea.

The abductee issue is part of the Six-Party Talks, and we believe it should be, because it is more likely to yield to progress as part of a comprehensive engagement with North Korea. And I would underscore that the North Koreans should in no way be mistaken. President Obama, on his Inauguration, during his address, made it clear that the United States will reach out a hand to those with whom we have differences so long as they unclench their fists. But the decision as to whether North Korea will cooperate in the Six-Party Talks, end provocative language and actions, is up to them. And we are watching very closely.

I have said on several occasions that if North Korea abides by the obligations it has already entered into and verifiably and completely eliminates its nuclear program, then there will be a reciprocal response, certainly from the United States: a chance to normalize relations, to enter into a peace treaty rather than an armistice, and to expect assistance for the people of North Korea. So it is truly up to the North Koreans. But in the meantime, those of us who are parties to the Six-Party Talks will be coordinating and working together to renew the vigorous outreach that we want to have in order to build on what has already occurred.

I want to express deeply the appreciation to Japan for the reconstruction assistance that has already been provided in Afghanistan. Schools have been built. Children are going to school that would not otherwise have been able to do so without the generosity of the Japanese people. There will be a new airline terminal opening up. And it is, again, a tangible sign of the willingness by the Japanese people to try to help the people of Afghanistan, and there are many other examples. So we are very, very grateful, Mr. Minister.

Q. Secretary Clinton, was it a mistake for the Bush Administration to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism? And what can you do now to pressure the North Korean Government on the Japanese abductee issue?

And Foreign Minister Nakasone, how responsible is the U.S. for the financial crisis that threw your own economy into the worst contraction in the last quarter in 35 years? And what do you want the U.S. to do to address the effects of the financial crisis on Japan, and is your own stimulus package insufficient? Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. A lot of questions, Mr. Minister.

I'm not going to go into an analysis of the past. We have inherited a set of challenges that we are going to address, and one of those is the fact that in the last eight years, the North Koreans have obtained the capacity to, as we expect from the information available to us, make nuclear weapons through its reprocessing of plutonium.

Now if we could turn the clock back, we would not have let that occur. It is, unfortunately, much easier to obtain the fissile material necessary through the reprocessing of plutonium than through the process of highly enriching uranium. But we are where we are. And what we are underscoring is the obligations that North Korea entered into in 2007. And we expect them to continue on that path. Now, we know that the work ahead of us is not easy. People have acted in good faith trying to determine the best way forward. We will be looking at where we are today and determining what is the best path to take now.

Our goal remains the same: a denuclearized North Korea with the kind of complete and verifiable inspections that will put to rest questions about whether or not they have the capacity to make nuclear weapons. In addition, we wish to end the proliferation that has emanated from North Korea. So those are our goals. They're goals that we share with our Japanese friends, and it is what we will pursue in the Six-Party Talk framework.

Foreign Minister Nakasone. Well, the question for me—I think there were two points—one is how we work on North Korea. And the second point was our views on U.S. stimulus policy, or package.

First, on North Korea: U.S. and North Korea relations unfortunately have failed to make progress. On the abduction issue, through the Japan-North Korea consultations on August the 12th, North Korea agreed to establish an authoritative committee on reinvestigation, that they will establish that committee early on and redo the investigation. And in response of that, Japan will lift sanctions—in other words, allow the resumption of charter flights, and also allow the resumption of people-to-people exchanges. So we entered into that mutual commitment.

In September we had a new cabinet. Yet I think if they wanted to see—make sure what the new administration's policy will be on this matter, but Prime Minister Aso, as well as I, myself, in Diet queries have expressed that our policy will remain the same as in the past. Once North Korea resumes reinvestigation, we are ready to lift sanctions. So we have been making that point time and again.

For more than 30 years, they have not met their families. The abductees and the families are waiting for the earliest return of the abductees. So Japan would like to resolve this issue as soon as possible, and we are working on that with that intent. And yet the reality is what I've said just now. So with the cooperation of other countries concerned, we would like to do our best to resolve this problem as early as possible.

On the economic question, in November last year, there was a G-20 in Washington, D.C, and then there was APEC meetings, and then in April, there will be the London summit on the financial crisis. Now this is a global financial and economic crisis, and therefore, all economic powers will need to cooperate with each other, and try to resolve the issue in a concerted manner.

But above all, the largest economy in the world, the United States, has passed a relevant bill in the Congress, which accompanies large-scale spending and tax cuts. And I think this is most meaningful.

Japan today, following the supplementary budget, is deliberating on next fiscal year's budget. And I think each country needs to work to improve its real economy. I think that is important for our recovery.

Well, thank you very much. With this, we would like to conclude this joint press conference. Thank you very much.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Secretary General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan delivered these remarks in Jakarta, Indonesia

Dr. Surin. Madame Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, we welcome the Secretary of State of the United States here with 30 yellow roses—32 yellow roses. Thirty-two symbolizes the 32 years of (inaudible) partnership between the United States and ASEAN. Yellow, in our dictionary, means a new beginning. It means prosperity. It means happiness. So we do hope, Madame Secretary, that your visit today, being the highest ranking U.S. official visiting us, the first Secretary of State of the United States to visit us here at the headquarters of ASEAN, 576 million people, represents a new beginning and a new engagement on the part of the United States to ASEAN and with ASEAN.

Your visit shows the seriousness of the United States to end its diplomatic absenteeism in the region. You have said the U.S. is ready to listen. We are also ready to listen, Madame Secretary. Your willingness to listen will go a long way to winning friends and partners, and reassuring allies in the region.

Your visit also emphasizes the importance of ASEAN in the regional architecture. ASEAN, with its 41 years of history, has been an anchor of stability, peace, and harmony for the region. As a region, ASEAN and East Asia is ready, able, and willing to work with the United States in the search for solutions to global impasses, including bridging the cultural divide.

Ladies and gentlemen, this evening, Secretary Clinton and I had a very, very constructive conversation about a more robust engagement of the United States with the ASEAN region. We touched on several issues: global economic security was one of them; we agreed that we will join hands to coordinate and consolidate and create synergy to cope with the impact of the global financial crisis and to find the best means to cushion our communities from economic distress.

In this connection, I welcome Secretary Clinton's strong commitment not to erect trade and other barriers. In your own words, Madame, we must remain committed to a system of open and fair trade. That was at the Asia Society on the 13th of this month in New York. I hope with this commitment, the Doha Round will have a new push.

I warmly welcome the Obama Administration's commitment to launch its interagency process to pursue accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. It is a reaffirmation of the United States political and security commitment to this region.

The U.S. has been a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN for more than three decades. The commemorative summit between ASEAN and the U.S. to accelerate that occasion— to celebrate that occasion is still waiting to be realized. We hope this important milestone will be fulfilled soon.

We appreciate in the past 32 years, many, many initiatives on your part, Madame. The American people, the American Government have assisted, cooperated with ASEAN on many, many issues, including assisting us in our community-building efforts, preparing us for a higher engagement with the international community on trade and on many other issues.

We appreciate your help, your government's, coming to our help very quick— very fast, very timely in our response to the Cyclone Nargis in early May this past year.

Madame Secretary, your presence here represents the beginning of a new era of diplomacy and development using smart power that you have articulated recently. ASEAN is very much honored to be a part of that new beginning.

Thank you, once again, and I look forward to meeting you at the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference and the 16th ASEAN Regional Forum in Thailand in the middle of the year. Thank you very much, Madame Secretary.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Secretary General, for hosting our meeting here at the ASEAN Secretariat. I am very proud to be here at the Secretariat on my first overseas trip as Secretary of State of the United States. I came here to underscore the close ties the Obama Administration seeks between ASEAN and the United States, and to discuss issues of common concern to the ASEAN community and our country.

I congratulate the Secretary General on the adoption of the ASEAN charter, which came into force just last December. This is a major milestone in ASEAN's development.

As the Secretary General stated, I have spoken a lot, as has President Obama, about the importance of listening. We are sending that message to friends and partners around the world. And we have listened to our friends in ASEAN. They have expressed their concern that the United States has not been fully engaged in the region at a time when we should be expanding our partnerships to address the wide range of challenges confronting us, from regional and global security, to the economic crisis, to climate change and human rights.

Part of being a good listener and a good partner is acting on what you hear. So today, I am proud to announce that the Obama Administration will launch our formal interagency process to pursue accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. This is the first time the United States has taken this step. We will work through this process to put forward our concerns, and then work with the countries of ASEAN to resolve them so that we can achieve our goal of accession.

We are taking this step because we believe that the United States must have strong relationships and a strong and productive presence here in Southeast Asia. This region is vital to the future of not only the United States and each of the countries, but to the world's common interests: a significant and trade-oriented regional economy; a critical strategic location; and a set of countries that will be key to any solutions we pursue on climate change, counterterrorism, global health, and so much else. So, Mr. Secretary General, an American-ASEAN partnership is an important part of our new approach to development and diplomacy, what we call “smart power.”

As we move forward on the track, I look forward to engaging with ASEAN in other ways. I told Secretary General Surin that I plan to participate in the ASEAN Post-Ministerial and ASEAN Regional Forum meetings in Bangkok in July. And the United States will continue to support the technical assistance and training facility here at the Secretariat.

So, Mr. Secretary General, please know that you have a strong partner and ally in the United States, and that I look forward to working with you in the months and years to come. Thank you very much.

Dr. Surin. Thank you, Madame Secretary. Secretary Clinton has kindly agreed to entertain one or two questions. Please.

Yes, you first.

Q. (Off-mike.)

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think that what we are trying to convey in these first weeks of the Obama Administration is that we are reaching out to the entire world. As we all know, there are certain parts of the world that will demand more attention. That is why, almost immediately, the President and I named a Special Envoy to the Middle East and a Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is why we named a Special Envoy for Climate Change, a global problem.

So here we are in Indonesia, which has demonstrated for the entire world to see that Islam, democracy, and modernity can exist very successfully. And that is a message that Indonesia is sending to the rest of the world. Here in the ASEAN region, we have Muslim nations, Catholic nations, Buddhist nations. And what we want to convey is an approach that really does look for partnerships, bilateral where appropriate, multilateral as well. And ASEAN is a key to what we envision as a renewed and vigorous commitment to diplomacy and development.

So there is no pigeon-holing or there is no exclusivity. We are reaching out to the entire world. Because as the Secretary General said, it's not only the ASEAN countries that feel the United States has been absent. Other parts of the world, unfortunately, do as well. Even in our own hemisphere, as you know, we have many friends in Latin America who feel that we haven't paid much attention. So there is no specific singling out of any country or any region or any group of people. This is a general effort to reengage with the world and to do so in an effective manner. ASEAN provides such a forum.

Dr. Surin. I have tried to convince Madame Secretary that this is a picture of harmony and diversity in the region, and the road to reconciliation with the Muslim world might very well run through ASEAN and Southeast Asia.

Q. (Off-mike.)

Dr. Surin. Yes.

Secretary Clinton. What would I say to American investors who would like to invest in Indonesia? That judging by my ride from the foreign ministry to the ASEAN Secretariat, there is an enormous opportunity for the kind of growth and positive investment climate that was evidenced just along that one road. And I hope that we'll see investments from around the world in Indonesia and ASEAN countries. Because as we have said over and over again, democratic development and economic development do go hand- in- hand. What we want is to convey that there are benefits to democracy that will have tangible, positive results in the lives of people.

You know, later this evening, I'll be meeting with a broad cross-section of leaders of civic society and non-governmental organizations here in Indonesia to talk about what more can be done to even further the prosperity and the peace and security of Indonesia. So I would certainly hope that investors will look at all of the ASEAN countries. Because putting people to work, giving people a chance to have a better life for themselves and their children, has to be a primary goal of any development of any country. And it is certainly one of my highest priorities in looking at our development assistance in the United States.

Dr. Surin. Madame Secretary, you have been so generous with your time, and you have another engagement. Thank you very, very much.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Noer Hassan Wirajuda delivered these remarks in Jakarta, Indonesia

Foreign Minister Wirajuda. Your Excellencies, Secretary of State of the United States, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, friends and members of the press, I wish to once again express my warmest welcome to Excellency Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary Clinton and members of her delegation (inaudible). We are honored and humbled by your visit to Indonesia as part of your first foreign trip and visit (inaudible) of President Obama's Administration.

As the host country in which President Obama spent his (inaudible) years, the government and people of Indonesia have the finest expectations of the success of this Administration. The Secretary of State and I, accompanied by members of respective delegations, just concluded our bilateral talk. At bilateral meeting, we have covered a wide range of issues, bilateral, as you know, as well as global issues of common concern.

The United States is a very important partner of Indonesia. Our bilateral relations have been growing from strength to strength, and we have the basis to further—to strengthen them further. We warmly welcome firm commitment of Obama's Administration for (inaudible) partnerships with Indonesia and the rest of Asia. I share the view of Secretary Clinton that there exists (inaudible) ground for cooperation as we both pluralistic and tolerant society. And on its own, Indonesia is not only country with largest Muslim populations, but as we have proven here, democracy, Islam and modernity can go hand in hand. And as an active promoter of dialogue among civilizations, religions and cultures, Indonesia will be a good partner of United States in reaching out to the Muslim world.

We agreed to expand and deepen our bilateral cooperation within a comprehensive partnerships, having concrete agendas (inaudible) economy, trade, investment, education, health, climate change, security cooperation (inaudible), and enhanced people to people contacts, including exchanges of youths and students.

We agreed that the cooperation to promote prosperity and welfare of the people is as equally important as promoting democracy; hence, democracy and prosperity are mutually reinforcing. We will be working closely to promote development cooperation to help Indonesia attain the Millennium Development Goals in line with the (inaudible) the primacy of development that Obama's Administration wishes to promote around the world.

As a developing economy, Indonesia will be affected negatively by (inaudible) global financial crisis, in spite of the fact that we still expect positive economic growth this year. We will continue to consult each other on the extent the United States can help Indonesia in coping with financial crisis.

(Inaudible) in Southeast Asia through ASEAN in light of (inaudible) process in East Asia as well as and of the Asia Pacific. ASEAN is in the beginning of this transformation process (inaudible).

We welcome the (inaudible) United States to see the success of the integration process of ASEAN. ASEAN wishes to see more active engagement of the United States, including by appointing a U.S. ambassador to ASEAN and its future accession to the ASEAN (inaudible) committee and cooperation.

We would like also to see that the United States, as an important transpacific power, is high priority on (inaudible) in Asia Pacific regions. This high priority beginning to be reflected by the visit of Secretary Clinton to our region. East Asia (inaudible) dynamic region, and (inaudible) process. We in Indonesia are now beginning to talk about the future of East Asia and Asia Pacific community.

As there is no (inaudible) architecture yet, we appreciate the constructive contributions of the United States in shaping of the new architecture of the Asia Pacific region (inaudible) cooperation.

Lastly, we also discussed several global issues, such as finding solutions to the Palestinian conflict and Middle East situation in general, and on (inaudible) global peace and security, including the issues of disarmament and nonproliferation in Asia and in other parts of the world.

May I now invite Secretary Clinton to address the press.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Your Excellency, and I thank you for welcoming me so warmly to Indonesia. This is my first trip as Secretary of State, but it is not my first trip to Indonesia. And it is wonderful to be back here. I have such fond memories of my past visits and very high hopes for the future of the United States and Indonesia relationship.

The United States recognizes the importance of Indonesia, and I bring greetings from President Obama, who has himself said and written about the importance of his time here in Indonesia as a young boy. It gave him an insight into not only this diverse and vibrant culture, but the capacity for people of different backgrounds to live harmoniously together. And it is no accident that on my first trip as Secretary of State I've come to this country.

The minister and I spoke about a number of issues, first and foremost the desire on the part of both of our presidents and our countries to form a comprehensive partnership, one that provides a framework for advancing our common interests on a range of regional and global issues, from environmental protection and climate change to trade and investment, from democracy promotion to health and education, from regional security, to counterterrorism. It is exactly the kind of comprehensive partnership that we believe will drive both democracy and development.

The United States and Indonesia share more than interests. We do share common values. We have both embraced democracy. Indonesia has experienced a great transformation in the past ten years, building strong and growing institutions, welcoming and developing a vibrant civil society, and at the same time respecting human rights in a successful fight against terrorism and extremism, ending sectarian and separatist conflicts, and working to make the world a safer place for global trade and for human rights.

Indonesia and the United States are both members of the G-20, and we have an obligation to help restore global growth and economic prosperity. Each country is dealing with these problems, but no country can do this alone. And although Indonesia does project a positive growth rate, it is clear that Indonesia needs support from its friends and allies here in Asia and around the world.

We also have common interests and responsibilities when it comes to climate change. Traveling with me is the Special Envoy for Climate Change that President Obama and I appointed, Todd Stern. Indonesia and the United States are two of the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, and both of us must be a comprehensive partner in the constructive solutions that await. I really applaud Indonesia for hosting the Bali climate conference and to help set the framework for what we will need to do together and to integrate deforestation into the broader climate negotiations. We discussed our efforts heading toward Copenhagen to make sure that we build on the good work that was done here in Bali.

We discussed a number of other specific issues, including how to move forward on Burma to achieve the goal of allowing the people of Burma to live freely and select their own leadership. And I, again, thank Indonesia for working both bilaterally and through ASEAN on behalf of that goal. This was the epitome of a working visit. And let me report a few of the other conclusions that we reached.

First, we discussed bringing the Peace Corps back to Indonesia. And I'm pleased to announce that the Peace Corps will be negotiating an agreement for a program here in Indonesia.

Secondly, we have renewed our Fulbright Scholarship Agreement. Our two countries have signed the memorandum of understanding extending the Fulbright program for five years in the run-up to my visit.

Third, we talked about the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact for Indonesia. Indonesia has earned the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact eligibility status because of its impressive reform agenda and results. And I'm pleased to announce that a Millennium Challenge Corporation team will visit this spring to begin another exciting new partnership to work with Indonesia on its goals of reducing poverty and promoting economic growth. This remained an important point. Democracy and prosperity must advance together. And that is a goal that we share as well.

Fourth, we discussed a proposed United States-Indonesia science and technology agreement, which would provide a framework for U.S. science and technology agencies to work with their Indonesian counterparts. This week, we are providing a draft proposal for the Indonesian Government to consider, and we will be engaging in negotiations.

Let me close by saying that building a partnership, a comprehensive partnership with Indonesia is a critical step on behalf of the United States' commitment to smart power, to listening as well as talking with those around the world, to supporting a country that has demonstrated so clearly, as the minister said that Islam, democracy, and modernity not only can co-exist, but thrive together. And so I look forward to the deeper and broader relationship between our two countries. Thank you very much.

Q. (Inaudible) newspaper. (Inaudible) a need to show the Islamic world that Washington wants to open new chapter (inaudible). How far do you think that strong relations between the United States and Indonesia will support the goals of Washington to open a new chapter with the Islamic world? And we still remember your statement in the Asia Society that we want to support Indonesia because Indonesia proposed (inaudible) as democracy. So what do you—what do you think about the area of cooperation that we could go forward (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I'm very committed to the relationship between our two countries. And that is why we are entering into developing a comprehensive partnership, one that covers all of the areas that the minister and I discussed and that we both have just mentioned. And the Obama Administration wants to reach out to the entire world. We believe that there are opportunities for us to engage with nations that have similar values and visions of the kind of future that we need to share. United States and Asia have a common future. The question is: How will we share it together and how do we make it more prosperous and peaceful for all of our people? And certainly, Indonesia being the largest Muslim nation in the world, the third largest democracy, will play a leading role in the promotion of that shared future. So we are looking forward to deepening our cooperation on a number of issues.

Q. Yes. Madame Secretary, regarding your Burma review, there are currently 2,137 political prisoners rotting in remote locations in that country. And the UN envoy has twice been refused a meeting with the junta leader Than Shwe. Why do you think that possibly easing sanctions could influence a regime that is impervious to world opinion?

And to the foreign minister, Indonesia has been a leader on the subject of Burma. What do you think were the necessary next steps?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Glenn, I appreciate your asking that question because the minister and I have had a very positive exchange about the challenges that Burma poses. The unfortunate fact that Burma seems impervious to influence from anyone—and certainly Indonesia and the other ASEAN nations have attempted to intervene with Burma. But we are conducting a review, because we want to see the best ideas about how to influence the Burmese regime. And we are looking at every possible idea that can be presented.

Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta. But as the minister pointed out in our working meeting, reaching out and trying to engage them hasn't influenced them either. So this is a problem for not just Indonesia and the United States, but for the entire region. And we're going to work closely, we're going to consult with Indonesia for ideas about how best to try to bring about the positive change in Burma.

Foreign Minister Wirajuda. We always discuss the issue of Myanmar in a very open and frank manner (inaudible) also within ASEAN. We are going to have the ASEAN summit end of this month. And certainly, the issue of Myanmar will be again discussed for the initial as well as summit level. Myanmar has promised to organize what they call multiparty election next year under the new constitution. We must ensure that (inaudible) process needed leading to get elections. (Inaudible) will be (inaudible) of these particular neighboring countries to engage more closely with Myanmar. We see the importance of seeing the problem of Myanmar in much wider context, not only upon the lack of democracy and human rights, but concern of Myanmar on emotional (inaudible) to be national sovereignty. It is a real problem for them.

Secondly, on the dire situation, economic situation and monetary situations that the people of Myanmar are really suffering from. So I think together, the international community, ASEAN countries start work together in more comprehensive manner with the hope, of course, that this would potentially bring Myanmar to (inaudible) progress which support the strength that's been described to many of us, including the ASEAN countries. What's perhaps positive that Myanmar has opened itself by providing a charter to promote the ASEAN charter, including on the obligations of every member of ASEAN to promote democracy and human rights. We will ask that the commitment and the observance of Myanmar to (inaudible) a commitment under the charter, what they have done, what they have not for a better—something that I think in that context—we did not (inaudible) at least, unlike in the past, we'll have a creative process (inaudible).

Q. Okay. Thank you. My name is (inaudible). I have a question (inaudible) Mr. Wirajuda. (Inaudible) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as we get closer to this teamwork? So how do you comment on this point (inaudible)?

Foreign Minister Wirajuda. From your first question, I (inaudible). We welcome the past announcements of President Obama's Administration, which would give as a matter of importance the smart power, power of persuasions and using more soft power, and its recommendation to reach out, not only to the Islamic world, but also to each of us (inaudible).

We welcome, as expressed by Secretary Hillary Clinton, that the early engagement of the past administrations on the Palestine-Israeli problem. And of course, it's difficult (inaudible), but Indonesia would like very much to work closely with the (inaudible) parties concerned of the United States on how the Palestine-Israeli conflict can be resolved. Likewise, I would welcome, for example, the offer that the U.S. administration has extended to Iraq to solve the problems of the Iranian nuclear issue together. This is a new lines—policy lines that we very much welcome, but likewise on the—our (inaudible) relations you have heard already of our statements just made that need to promote a comprehensive partnership with Indonesia and the United States. This is a complex case that translates in policy announcements of the United States under President Obama's Administration.

Q. Madame Secretary, following up on that, with regard to Iran, your envoy, Mr. Holbrooke—Ambassador Holbrooke has suggested that there are positive things that Iran could do to be helpful toward Afghanistan. What would you like to see Iran do, and could this be one avenue that would open a dialogue with Iran?

And Mr. Minister, following up on the engagement toward your country and the Muslim world, and particularly in your country, would you expect and like to see President Obama visit Indonesia and perhaps make his first major to address the Muslim world here in this country, which is of such important— personal significance to him?

Secretary Clinton. I think that's an easy question. As you know, we are conducting an extensive set of reviews of the policies that we inherited. Clearly, President Obama campaigned on change. And what we are attempting to do is chart a path forward that results in positive change for the United States and for our friends and allies and partners around the world, and with respect to challenges that we confront.

When we talk about engaging countries, we look very carefully at what that could mean in the context in which the discussion takes place. Specifically, with respect to Ambassador Holbrooke's comment regarding a potential contribution of Iran in Afghanistan, it is a reality that Iran neighbors Afghanistan, that there are refugees who fled the Taliban, who took up residence in Iran, that in the early days of our efforts to free the people of Afghanistan from the oppressive rule of the Taliban, there were ongoing contacts between our ambassador in Kabul and the Iranian ambassador. So I think Ambassador Holbrooke is stating the obvious, that in order to deal with Afghanistan, the neighbors of that country must be included. Now, the form in which that takes place, the subjects to be discussed, is a matter to be determined later.

But what we are attempting to do in the Obama Administration is to marry our principles with pragmatism, to determine how we can work together with people who care about solving the problems we face in order to produce that more peaceful, prosperous, and progressive future that President Obama campaigned for.

Foreign Minister Wirajuda. President Obama has a very strong constituency here in Indonesia, of course without the right to vote. But (inaudible) people of the United States for the presidential elections in the United States very closely. And we share the joy of these (inaudible) connections. This government, and the people of Indonesia, would like very much to welcome President Obama on his trip to Indonesia. And I can say that we cannot wait too long. And I wish that Secretary Clinton (inaudible) with President Obama.

Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed in a roundtable in Jakarta, Indonesia

Secretary Clinton. Oh. Well, I'm more interested in your questions, but I am very pleased to hear that all of you went to the United States for our elections, which were very exciting. And we're so thrilled that President Obama has taken hold of our country at home, on the economy, and around the world with a message that America is reaching out and listening and wanting to work in partnership with countries like Indonesia.

I know you're going to be having elections, and I've been asked several times by Indonesians just in the last day how I could work for President Obama after Iran against him. And it's because in our country, in our democracy, we try after we have elections to come together and look for solutions to the problems that we face. So I was very honored and surprised when he asked me to be the Secretary of State, but am very excited to be representing the United States and the Obama Administration here in Indonesia and around the world.

So with that, we should probably begin with your questions.

Q. Yeah. You said last night how— when you had dinner that you are the most surprised person in the world when you were asked to serve as Secretary of State. And you already explained a little bit, but we are really concerned about what were your considerations professionally, and of course, personally when you decided to be Secretary of State. Because it never happens here in Indonesia where competitors meet in the same administration.

Secretary Clinton. That's a great question, Tina. Well, I was very surprised. It was not anything I had any reason to expect or had even thought about. I assumed that I would go back to being a senator, which I loved doing, from New York, a place that I love to live and represent. But President Obama was very persuasive in our conversations when he did ask me. We have so many of the same views about what we should be doing in the world. And as we talked more and more, I became convinced that it would be an exciting and important opportunity to work with our new President and to try to send a different message to the rest of the world about what America was doing and thinking.

And it's proven to be an extraordinary experience. It was difficult—I know you asked both professionally and personally—because I did love what I was doing and I had to make a very hard decision. But I believe strongly in supporting my country and serving my country, and this was another way to continue to do that.

Q. Yes. It's—once again, it's my pleasure to meet you here, ma'am. I am from a small FM radio. My radio is— operate as a network radio and broadcast in 17 city in Indonesia. As that— we, in the last ten years, has implement our own democracy here in Indonesia. But when I have an opportunity to visit U.S. and watch (inaudible) election from your country, I find something else, that you preparing this election so well, I'm so thrilled when I heard McCain make his wonderful speech when he found that he lost, then Obama. And we cannot find something like that in Indonesia.

So what do you think about our democracy? Can we do something like that maybe many years from now? Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. That's a good question too, Denny. We have been practicing democracy for a very long time. We are the oldest democracy in the world. And we are still not perfect. We work hard at it all the time. You are a young, vibrant democracy, and I think you've come a very long way in a short period of time.

But you have to have people in the media, people in politics, people in business and academics all understanding that the purpose of democracy is to improve the lives of people, to give people the opportunity to make good decisions for themselves, to build a strong economy with a functioning free market system that will give people the chance to work and have a better life for themselves and their children.

And so the elections are just a part of it. The elections draw a lot of the attention that you get as you're out campaigning, but really, you have to have an independent judiciary, you have to have the rule of law, you have to have competent, non-corrupt governance, you have to have a free press. You have to have a lot of the pieces in place so that no matter who wins, the democracy survives and keeps going. And then you have another election and somebody else will be elected.

So I think you should look at what you've achieved in the last ten years with a lot of pride, because many other countries just have not reached the level that you are right now. But that doesn't mean that you should be satisfied, and so you have to keep kind of working to get the people who are in politics to understand that they have to serve the nation, not just themselves or their political party.

And you mentioned Senator McCain's very gracious concession speech. That was a very hard speech for him to give. I mean, he knows that he'll never have another chance to run for president. He has served our country his entire life—in the military, in politics. He's a genuine hero. And he showed real character in saying that he wasn't successful and in wishing President Obama well. Now, that doesn't mean he's going to agree with everything that President Obama does, but he is going to be a contributing member of the government going forward. And I would hope that that's how you will see things develop here.

Does that make sense to you?

Secretary Clinton. And you look at the history of our democracy. At first, only men with—white men with property could vote. Then they had to amend the Constitution to include African American men, but then they prevented them from voting, and then we had to change the Constitution to let women vote. I mean, it's just been an ongoing process. But you just keep working at it, and you can't get discouraged, because it makes such a big difference to the lives of people if they feel like their government is responsive to them.

Q. Yes, your statement regarding relations to the largest Muslim population in the world, does the Government of the United States in your Administration have—has a plan to more intensify the dialogue between the two countries, especially among people-to-people?

Secretary Clinton. Yes.

Q.—particularly religious society there in United States and Indonesia?

Secretary Clinton. Mohammed, I hope we'll have a lot more exchanges of all kinds, people-to-people exchanges. I think governments have to talk, and that's important, and it's one of the reasons why I'm here in Indonesia. But there is nothing that is more effective than having people break down barriers between themselves.

The level of interest here in Indonesia for students studying in the United States has put student exchanges at the top of my list when I go back to Washington: How do we increase more exchanges? Because there's a great interest in having Indonesians study in the United States, and I think there will be opportunities for American students to do more in Indonesia. And I just had a wonderful meeting with your President, and he was talking about how we can have more higher education exchanges, university-to-university. We should look at all of that. How do we have more healthcare exchanges where our doctors and nurses and hospitals work with yours? The more we can have that person-to-person contact, the more likely it is we can develop better understanding.

I also am very impressed at the way Indonesia has led interfaith dialogues, and also its emphasis on democracy, like the Bali Democracy Forum, bringing countries together that are at different stages of democratic development. So we do see a tremendous opportunity for us to increase our government-to-government cooperation and the comprehensive partnership that I discussed with both the President and the Foreign Minister, but also more on a people-to-people basis.

Moderator. (Inaudible).

Q. I'm Philip from the (inaudible) magazine. We want to know—I mean, “change” in last American election is a very famous word. We want to know that—is it America will bring any change in international relation, especially in—settled on conflict in countries like maybe in Palestinian and everywhere?

Secretary Clinton. Philip, your question, as I understand it, is will we play a more active role in trying to resolve conflicts.

Q. Yes.

Secretary Clinton. And the answer is we are going to try. We believe strongly that the United States does have such a role to play. A number of people in my conversations over the last day have asked about what we were going to do in the Middle East. And I pointed out that one of the very first decisions that the President and I made was to appoint a Special Envoy to the Middle East. And Senator Mitchell was very involved in helping to resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland, which had gone on for many, many years. And he is going to work very hard to try to find a path forward to bring the Palestinians together first, and then the Palestinians and the Israelis to achieve a two-state solution.

I will be going to the Cairo conference that Egypt is hosting to look for ways that we can provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. So that's one example of the more engaged involvement that we want the United States to have. It will not surprise you that I think when the United States is absent; people believe that we are not interested. And that can create a vacuum that destructive forces can fill.

When I met with the ASEAN secretary general, he said that America had been absent from Southeast Asia over the last several years. Well, we don't want to be absent. We want to be present. Now, that doesn't mean that just by being present we're going to solve problems. But we want you to know that we intend to play as constructive a role as possible. There are some very difficult challenges —the problems in Darfur among the Sudanese, the problems in eastern Congo, terrible atrocities being committed, the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We know that there are many places that we think are important, not only to the people living through that conflict, but also to the rest of the world. So we will be more engaged and we will try to bring people together whenever possible.

Q. Yes, ma'am. You are already now U.S. Secretary of the United States of America, and you are a mother also and a (inaudible) woman (inaudible). So my question is: How if—how (inaudible)? I mean, how do you feel if (inaudible)—if you lost everything right now?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I don't think about that. I feel very fortunate because I've had a set of extraordinary experiences that have been just a gift to me. I mean, you never know what's going to happen to you in life, and I try to live each day to the best that I can and not worry too much about tomorrow. It will come, and I hope I'll be here and have a chance to continue my work. But I was privileged to be the First Lady of my country; that's when I visited Indonesia.

Q. (Inaudible.)

Secretary Clinton. Yes. And I had a wonderful time and was able to renew acquaintances with some of the people who I met 15 years ago last night at dinner. And I was privileged to be a senator from New York for eight years and to be a senator and work with my state on very big challenges, like the attack of 9/11, which killed so many people and was devastating, and trying to figure out how to protect our country and make it possible for people to lead their lives and raise their children. And now, I am so honored to represent my country around the world.

So I'm very grateful for everything I've been able to do. And I never expected, when I was your age, I would do any of those things. So I think that gift—life is a gift, and you just make the best of it every single day. And as a woman, I've watched the opportunities for women increase in many parts of the world. And here in Indonesia, when I met with the Foreign Minister, there were three women at the table. And today, with the President, there were two women ministers at the meeting. So I'm very impressed with what Indonesia is doing with the rights and roles of women. That's not true in many parts of the world still. And I think that countries that don't provide equal rights for women are losing half of the talent of their country. They're losing doctors and nurses and businesswomen and professors and politicians, and so much else.

So I came of age at a time when it was just happening in my own country that more and more women were being given the opportunity to chart their own course, make their own decisions. And so I've been very fortunate, and I'm grateful for every opportunity that I've had.

Moderator. Let's go to Simon.

Q. Okay. So welcome to the Indonesian world. People loves you so much, really.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you.

Q. (Inaudible.) My first question. Why do you choose to visit Indonesia? Of course, for us, our country is important. But there are other country important (inaudible) too. Is it because of Obama—President Obama asked you to visit, or what happened this first visit?

Secretary Clinton. Okay.

Q. And then the second one. Sorry. As a matter of fact, Indonesia and United States have good relation. I've been a reporter for 20 years, but in my opinion this good relations (inaudible). So my question is how do we use this relation to make it more fruitful to people from (inaudible)? We are talking about democracy for (inaudible). I mean, of course, it is our responsibility, but you can do that. You can do some help through the public diplomacy. I mean, how can we use this relation to overcome (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Those are two really important questions, Simon. On the first question about coming to Indonesia, I decided that I wanted to come to Asia on my first trip because we concluded that in the last several years, we hadn't paid enough attention to many parts of Asia, and certainly to the ASEAN countries. And I think it's important that Asia know that the United States is paying attention that we consider ourselves both a transpacific and a transatlantic power—we don't just look one way—and that our interests are not just focused on China. China is very important. We know China will assume more and more of a presence in not just Asia, but the world. But that we have long relationships with many countries, and I wanted to demonstrate that.

And as I was putting my trip together, I wanted to come to Southeast Asia, and I have such wonderful memories of my trip here in Indonesia, and I've also been very impressed by what you have achieved in the last ten years. My husband had a very positive experience working with the people of Indonesia after the tsunami and working on the rescue and the recovery and the reconstruction of Aceh. The President and I were talking about that. And of course, the personal relationship that President Obama has with Indonesia is very important to him. You can hear him talk about it and you can read his writings about how his time in Indonesia helped to shape his view of the world and the values that he has—seeing people from many different kinds of backgrounds living harmoniously. His sister is half-Indonesian. So he has personal family relationships that are very important to him. So for all of those reasons, Indonesia seemed like a very good choice.

And part of what I wanted to do is to make the point of your second question. It is not just about government-to-government, it has to be—going back to Mohammed's question—people- to- people. And how does the United States not just meet with presidents and foreign ministers, but meet in a way that people in Indonesia understand our concern and our commitment to this partnership.

After I leave here, I'll be going to a neighborhood in Jakarta where the United States Government, through our aid programs, have been working to help the families in the neighborhood get better services, and also do it in a way that is consistent with climate change challenges, so green technologies and approaches toward water and sewer systems and economic development.

I wanted to go there to highlight that because, in a quiet way every day, the United States, through our government, through NGOs, through person-to-person contact, is working with Indonesians across your country. And I think that making that a bigger part of our relationship will help to spread the word. That's why when I talk about our foreign policy, I talk about the three D's—defense, of course, but diplomacy and development, and how we help Indonesia develop.

I know there will be many opportunities about climate change. Indonesia is hosting a big Oceans Conference in May. We'll have high-level representation there because Indonesia, once again, is showing such leadership in this area. The forest problems and the coral reef problems that Indonesians have, which affects your livelihood and your environment, we're going to be involved with you on that. And then these education exchanges and healthcare exchanges, and other kinds of cooperation. So we're going to do a better job, and meeting with all of you and talking with all of you about what we're doing in partnership is one way of getting below the level of, as you say, the elites, and getting to where people live—that's what we want to do.

Q. This has been such a great honor for me to be here. My question is you are probably the most popular U.S. Secretary of State here in Indonesia. How do you deal with this and how do you think this would affect Indonesia-U.S. bilateral relationships?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I want to be a good friend to Indonesia. And I want to work with the Indonesian Government and the Indonesian people on behalf of my government and the people of the United States. I'm very excited about what we can do together. And we will not always agree, friends don't always agree. But if we talk to one another and we listen to one another, I think that we can further deepen our positive relationship. So I'm here on my very first trip because I think the relationship between Indonesia and the United States can be a centerpiece of what we do not just in Asia, but in the world.

You've heard me say that those who doubt that Islam and democracy and modernity and women's rights can all coexist should come to Indonesia. So I can help bring that message to my own country because many people don't know that about Indonesia, and to create better understanding and communication and to encourage more Americans to travel to Indonesia, to invest in Indonesia, to work in Indonesia, just all kinds of opportunities that I think we can pursue. So this is a very special trip for me.

My last trip made such an impression on me. I wrote about it in my book It Takes a Village. I wrote about some of what I did in Indonesia and in my other book Living History. And I just have always felt that the people of Indonesia were so open and so tolerant and willing to work with people who showed their willingness to partner, and I want that to be known broadly.

And I also want to consult with the Indonesian Government about some of the problems beyond the obvious. The Indonesian Government has lots of experience in dealing with some difficult neighbors like Burma. And how we can try to help the people of Burma deal with the terrible human rights violations that go on there every day and the political prisoners, and Aung San Sui Kyi's valiant struggle for freedom and democracy—what will work? And the Indonesians, your government, has been trying so we want to learn or, looking for advice on dealing with some of the other difficult challenges around the world. So I think this will become an even deeper and broader comprehensive partnership.

Q. (Inaudible) about democracy and Indonesian elections. So you said that it is hard for you personally to work with someone that was your competitor. So we will face a presidential election, and what we face right now is the President and also the previous presidents, I think they don't really get along together. So how can you tell Indonesian people and Indonesian politicians to be more mature in doing the politics?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I said it was hard to make the decision to give up my Senate seat because I loved being a senator. But it is not hard to work with President Obama because he and I have a very good working relationship, a very friendly relationship. We talk about the problems that we see and what we're trying to solve. So it's really been a very exciting opportunity for me to work as part of his Administration.

Q. It wasn't because your husband asked you to work with him?

Secretary Clinton. No. Although he thought it was a good idea. He was very encouraging because he thought that we'd be a good team that I would be, able to do some of the traveling and the outreach that we wanted to do in our new Administration. Because President Obama is so focused on our problems at home. I mean, he's working on trying to improve the economy at home and dealing with our housing crisis at home, and that's a very demanding set of challenges. So he's not going to be able to travel as much he would want to. When I spoke with him this morning, I told him that the people of Indonesia are waiting with open arms for him to come—but it will be difficult, given his other responsibilities, to plan that kind of travel. But eventually, he'll be able to do that.

But we both thought it was important, President Obama and I, that I get out and do as much traveling as early as possible to send a message that he wants the world to hear. And he's been talking to a lot of leaders around the world to reinforce that message, because we know that we inherited a lot of problems that we had to start dealing with. And we wanted to just dive in and have as many people helping as possible. And that's why I'm very proud to be the Secretary of State in his Administration.

And it is exciting because it so fits what I believe should be done. Now, if I'd totally disagreed that would be hard, but I don't. I agree with what we're trying to accomplish and the importance of having the United States, once again, reaching out to the rest of the world. But I hope that, as you point out, in your elections, however they turn out and that's, of course, up to the Indonesian people, that after the elections are over, people come together for the good of the country. And that's what we've tried to do in our own country.

But politics is hard—. You covered our election.

Q. Yeah.

Secretary Clinton. And you will cover your own election.

Q. Yeah.

Secretary Clinton. And people get very invested in their campaigns and in their positions. But when it's over, it's important to say, “Okay, what are we really trying to achieve here, and don't we want to work for the good of our country?”

Q. But you are a woman and you are maybe the most successful woman politician in the living history of the United States. How can you survive? You say that politics is hard.

Secretary Clinton. Yes, it is.

Q. So how can you survive?

Secretary Clinton. Well, you have to a high threshold for pain, number one.

Well, I think if I didn't believe in what I was doing, I couldn't do it. You have to— I mean, some people get into politics thinking that it'll be glamorous or they'll get to be important. Well, that's the wrong reason to get into politics. I mean, you have to believe that you're getting into politics to make a difference in people's lives, that your service will help somebody. And I've always been motivated by that ever since I was a lawyer and a child advocate, and working not in politics but in trying to improve the lives of children.

And that's what still motivates me. I mean, what can we do to make a more peaceful, prosperous world where every child has the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential? I mean, to me, that's the motivating purpose of my involvement in politics. And I feel strongly about it. And I've served in different ways, and now I have this opportunity to serve as Secretary of State.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks en route to Seoul, South Korea

Secretary Clinton. Well, we're half way through our trip, and I just wanted to give you a sense of what's next in Korea, and then I think we have time set for tomorrow afternoon to get together to have a conversation as well.

We've had kind of a two-day or two-country experience with what I believe are the elements of smart power, if you look at the many tools for doing both diplomacy and development, and for reaching out beyond government-to-government relations to develop a better connection with people in these countries. Because even authoritarian regimes are interested in public opinion, and in democracies at whatever stage of development, obviously, public opinion and people's attitudes about countries influences the decisions that governments make.

So for me, this is all of a piece. Indonesia was a particularly good example because we did the government-to-government meetings with the Foreign Minister and with the President, as well as the Secretary General of ASEAN. We did the civil society gathering and visited the USAID project and talked with Indonesian journalists in two different settings: the show that's a combination of The Today Show and MTV; and the reporters at the Ambassador's residence.

And I really believe that it's that kind of outreach that we've got to do everywhere. Some settings are more susceptible than others, but there's a real hunger for the United States to be present again. I was so struck when the Secretary General at ASEAN said that he thought that the United States had just been absent. And showing up is not all of life, but it counts for a lot. And especially when you are the most powerful country in the world, if you're not paying attention, people are going to feel like somehow they're not important to you.

And so now, in Korea, we'll be sort of shifting to an emphasis on the security situation. I'll be starting my morning with General Sharp and his Republic of Korean counterpart to talk about the state of the military in South Korea, the plans for moving operational control, the military assessment of the North Korean actions. I'll obviously be speaking about that with the President and the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, as well as attending another town hall at Ewha University, which is the largest women's university in the world. And I think we're in one of their small auditoriums, which has like 2,000 people. But it's a setting for more dialogue and another kind of town hall question-and-answer opportunity.

I think this is an especially important time for South Korea as they are confronting a lot of worries about what's up in North Korea, what the succession could be, what it means for them. And they're looking to us to use our best efforts to try to get the agenda of denuclearization and nonproliferation back in gear. So I'll be emphasizing that as we meet with the government leaders.

But let me stop there and just kind of throw it open. And Robert's going to call on people so we don't leave anybody out.

Q. Thank you, Madame Secretary. I actually want to thank you for playing along on that convoluted question last night at ASEAN, but I think—I thought it was important to point out that it's not a Muslim outreach, but it's the whole world.

So I'd like to ask you on the succession issue that you just mentioned in North Korea. How much can you tell us about U.S. plans or contingency plans? I know it's a sensitive issue, but—and God knows the North Koreans don't need another excuse to become even more provocative than they have been in the past weeks. But the people in South Korea, I think, are interested in the matter and would probably want to hear from you on that.

Secretary Clinton. Well, Nick, I think that our efforts have to be to number one, rebuild the commitment on the part of the other members of the Six-Party Talks— Japan, Russia, China, as well as South Korea and ourselves—into a united front to, again, deal with the North Koreans. The Six-Party Talks produced some results which we want to build on, but we are still facing the reality of North Korea not only possessing, we believe, some number of nuclear weapons, but showing very little willingness to get back on track.

And—now, some of that is attributed to their own internal situation, which I will discuss with the South Koreans. But I think our goal is to try to come up with a strategy that is effective in influencing the behavior of the North Koreans at a time when the whole leadership situation is somewhat unclear. So you add to the already difficult challenge of working with the North Koreans, the uncertainties that come from questions about potential succession. This is a difficult undertaking, but we are committed to it and we're going to be engaged in it, and I'm looking to guidance from both South Korea and then later in China about the best way to proceed.

Q. Can you sketch out for us or can you flesh out at all how you think it may be possible to move the North Koreans, and whether, in particular, you're going to be asking China to exert some of their influence or put more pressure on the North Koreans despite the uncertainty about their leadership?

Secretary Clinton. You know, Arshad, I will better be able to answer that after my meetings in Seoul and Beijing, because I want to hear directly from both the South Koreans and the Chinese about what they think the next steps are.

We obviously have some ideas, but we do want this to be shared responsibility. We take a great deal of responsibility because of our alliance relationships with Japan and with South Korea because of our troops in both countries. But you know, North Korea is on China's border, and I want to understand better what the Chinese believe is doable. Chris Hill, who is with us, went to Beijing before he joined me in Japan to begin those conversations. So I'll have a better sense of it after I speak with them.

Q. Thank you, Madame Secretary. In terms of getting the Six-Party Talks back on track, are you considering adding discussions about North Korea's ballistic missile programs, you know, perhaps as, like, another working group as part of the Six-Party Talks? And then also, isn't China, South Korea and the United States beginning, as part of a trilateral dialogue, a discussion of the potential succession issues in North Korea?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Glenn, I think that the ballistic missile discussion has to be pursued. Whether it's pursued as part of the Six-Party Talks, as an adjunct, or as a separate track is something I want to work through with our counterparts. But obviously, with the attention being paid to the potential launching by the North Koreans, this is, in and of itself, a matter of great concern. So it is something that's on my agenda, again, to try to figure out what is the most attractive option for the others as to how to proceed.

There was talk about including the ballistic missile track in the past that didn't come to pass, and I think that there is a pressing need for us to figure out how we're going to engage on that. Now that doesn't mean the North Koreans are going to engage, but we at least have to get our own position in agreement so that we can approach the North Koreans. And the conversations about the North Koreans go on all the time. I mean, everybody is trying to read the tea leaves as to what's happening and what's likely to occur.

And there is a lot of guessing going on, but there's also an increasing amount of pressure because if there is a succession, even if it's a peaceful succession, that creates more uncertainty and it also may encourage behaviors that are even more provocative as a way to consolidate power within the society. So we will spend a lot of time—I will—trying to determine from the South Koreans and the Chinese what their information is. Because obviously, they have a lot of sources that they can share with us, so we're going to have to try to feel our way forward here.

Q. Two questions, a bit unrelated if that's okay. The first is, since we last spoke to you about the question of highly enriched uranium, there have been these reports in the South Korean news media about a uranium enrichment facility potentially being near Yongbyon, and I wonder whether you could comment, whether you have any sense that there's anything to these reports. That's the first question.

The second question is an economic one. We're flying between two countries that were both badly hurt by the Asian financial crisis. And at the time, the U.S. remedy for them was very much to emulate the U.S.—deregulation, rule of law, and an embrace of the free market. Now, both of these countries, but particularly Korea, are suffering collateral damage from our own economic crisis. So the question is: What message can you give the Koreans this time around? Is it possible this time to say, “You need to emulate us,” or do we need to acknowledge that that may not be the right idea?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Mark, on the highly enriched uranium, we're always on the lookout for what the North Koreans might be doing, and it is a matter of ongoing concern. But the point that I made the other day, and that I underscore, is we know for sure that they've reprocessed plutonium and produced fissile material. That is of grave concern. And there's been such a concern on the part of some about the highly enriched uranium program that I worry that they're straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. I mean, let's focus on what they've done and how much easier it is to reprocess plutonium.

Obviously, we're concerned, and as we move forward in the Six-Party Talks, if we were ever at the point where we could create a verifiable and complete agreement, it would clearly include highly enriched uranium. And the inspectors and the other means for testing would be charged with determining what, if anything, did exist.

With respect to the economy Korea will be going to the G-20 in London. And I think it's very important that the G-20 nations come out of that meeting with some agreed upon framework that they intend to pursue. Some countries have a larger load to carry than others, namely the United States, and that's why President Obama is working so hard to get the stimulus package passed, to get the housing proposal out there, to demonstrate that we're not just pulling our weight, but leading the way in what we think is the best approach to global recovery.

There may be internal national considerations that any country has to look at. But trying to figure out how to fence off and eliminate toxic assets from your banking system to get credit moving again, to clean up any other kind of overhang, whether it be a housing crisis or other challenge to your economic well-being, individual countries are going to have to do that. But there needs to be a global framework, and that's what we hope will be hammered out at the G-20. And in this instance, it's not the United States saying to somebody else, “You go do like we do.” It's us saying, “Here's what we're doing to clean up our own mess.” And we think this is an important moment for us all to act to do what we can.

Now, take Indonesia. We just left there. They're still projecting a positive growth rate of about 4.5 percent, which is pretty impressive given where the contracting economies in the region are. But they're worried that failure to act or other problems internationally can cut the legs out from under them and cause them to become much more economically unstable. So I think it's really important that this G-20 meeting come out with specific action items so that people know what the direction is that we're going to pursue.

Q. Madame Secretary, following up on Mark, in your visit so far, to what extent have you found that our economic crisis has affected perceptions of American credibility and American leadership? And in the coming months and years, do you feel that you need to address beyond the traditional mechanisms of public diplomacy, which many would argue have really failed in the last—certainly in the last eight years-but you have to come up with new ways of perhaps what you're doing now in going beyond government -but new ways to assert American leadership and restore respect for America abroad? You know, how damaged are we, and how much anger do you feel out there?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think that people around the world are bewildered by what is happening. And there is a certain expectation that the United States, with our large, resilient economy, can recover and lead the way for the rest of the world to recover, and that's why we're working so hard to turn that expectation into a reality.

Some people are very critical of the problems that we had. The economic crisis hit us first and hit us very hard. But to some extent, we have more resilience than other economies do. People are still buying treasury bonds, even though they don't have any return to speak of. And so everyone who's investing in the American economy may be making the best bet they can on what they think the future holds.

But it's really important that we do everything within our power to demonstrate that people should have faith and confidence in our decision making. And that's one of the reasons the President worked so hard to get the stimulus package passed, so that we could begin to get our recovery moving.

So I think right now, people are just more nervous and scared. I just off the phone with Prime Minister Rudd in Australia and he is one of many voices saying we've really got to come together around this G-20 Summit and make sure we've got a positive program. And I think it's incumbent upon the United States to do everything we can to lead the way there, and that's what we're trying to do.

Indira.

Q. Thank you, Secretary Clinton. On this smart power issue, I was really struck by the appearance on “Awesome” and the civil society dinner and the town hall in Tokyo. And in a lot of these places, you're being greeted as, you know, they love you, it's effusive.

I'm wondering to what extent, though, is it preaching to the converted? With these civil society people, with the journalists who went to Emerson, these are people who are already predisposed to be pro-American. So to what extent is your smart power message getting out to those people in Indonesia or in Tokyo, who aren't in the room and who don't already love the United States and you personally?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Indira, I think that every one of those events had a much broader audience. Obviously, the Tokyo town hall was on Tokyo television. The program this morning is one of the most popular programs in Indonesia. And so everything that I do, which does connect with people who are receptive has ripple effects. And Andrea said something about public diplomacy. We haven't done a very good job. And we have such a great story to tell about who we are as Americans and what we believe in and our desire to help other people be empowered.

Some of you walked through that neighborhood with me, I mean the United States aid programs, paid for by American taxpayers, are hooking people up to clean water, for example. And it's the kind of incremental change that if properly explained and highlighted, can give meaning to what America is to people who may have no opinion or a slightly negative opinion. We are in a struggle over ideas. And one of the points that the civil society people were making to me last night is that Indonesia is going to turn into a real battleground for the future of democracy and Islam and women's rights. And we need to be there. We need to be supporting the forces within Indonesia who care deeply about all of those values.

And I think our failure to engage on that level going back years, partly because we didn't realize it was going on right underneath our noses, and then when we did, we didn't exactly connect with the right messages for people in a way that they accepted. So we've got a lot of work to do. I mean, I have no illusions about how high a hill we have to climb here to inspire confidence and respect in people's minds again.

But I have found that in not only my personal encounters, but in every public research survey I've ever read that anybody's ever done, that people still really want to like America and they want to know what we're doing and what we stand for.

And take Indonesia; because of the war in Iraq and some other things, the attitude of people in Indonesia toward the United States was very negative. And then the tsunami hit, and we helped. You know, the United States showed up. The Navy showed up with supplies. President Bush sent my husband and his father, and they were visibly there, and then Bill went back time and again. And all of a sudden, people said, “Oh, well, they don't need to do this, but here they are, they're helping.” And favorability toward the United States went up.

I mean, in Africa, in some of the sub-Saharan countries, where the favorability toward the United States has remained high, it's because of President Bush's PEPFAR program, that “the United States is here to actually do something good for us.” So this to me is what diplomacy is about, because it doesn't just operate, as I said, government-to-government; it operates people-to-people. And when every single person that I met with said to me they wanted more student exchanges so that Indonesian students could study in the United States, or the President would say, “I studied in the United States, “or the Secretary General of ASEAN said, “I was an AFS student,”—you know, for a lot of people those were transformative events. And we kind of cut back on that and we made it very difficult for people to get visas after 9/11, and so instead of coming to the United States, ambitious students went elsewhere.

So we have to rethink this and try to get back on the track of reaching out and being inclusive and giving more people a chance to see who we are.

Q. Thank you very much. If we could just go back to Pakistan, which you said you didn't have enough information the other day about the Islamic law in the Swat Valley, and if you've gotten more information, if the confusion's gone, and what you think of that?

And also, Afghanistan. And you say people really want to like America. In Afghanistan, ABC did a poll recently—I know the military has as well—looking at how people feel about Afghanistan now who live there—I mean, about Americans who live there, and their opinions have really plummeted. And one major reason is because the U.S. hasn't been able to deliver aid or build on its promises. Obviously, security is huge as well. Talk a little bit, if you will, about what you can do differently. The President ordered more troops there yesterday, but it's not just a military mission. Are you satisfied with the State Department role? What can you do, how can you change it, how can you make the aid there really work? And the Pakistan question.

Secretary Clinton. Well, we're doing a policy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and I'm not going to preview it. But I can guarantee you that we're looking at every single one of those questions. We did have the President order 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, but that's only a part of what the eventual strategy will be. And it is important that we understand how we have to build—rebuild our position and our credibility, and figure out to produce results for people. But we hope to have that review done by the end of March, and we'll have more to say about it when it is done.

With respect to Pakistan, our Special Representative Richard Holbrooke and others are working with the Government in Pakistan to understand exactly what they intend with their recent announcement and how we're supposed to interpret it. So I don't want to say something that might not be particularly useful until we have a clearer idea.

But I'll just circle back and end with this: Part of the reason we're having an Afghanistan-Pakistan review—and we've worked very hard to get our allies on board and looking at both countries, not just at Afghanistan, which took some discussion—is because we see them as interconnected. And any decision in one affects our prospects and the prospects of peace and stability in the other, so we are very aware of the fact that we have to look at both of them. And we've asked that both countries contribute ideas and personnel to our policy review, because we want them to be part of what our eventual strategic assessment is going to be. And they've both agreed to do that. So I don't want to say anything other than that at this moment.

Thank you. Thank you.

Q. Is there any way to get one in on North Korea (inaudible)? Basically, are you going with any idea of defusing the tensions that exist right now? Is that important to (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Well, you know, defusing the tension between North and South Korea is always important, because we don't want it to spiral up. So I will talk with the South Koreans about how we can try to rein in the unhelpful comments from the North Koreans, or at least not respond to them, not take the bait, so to speak.

But this is a pattern. You can go back and chart it. And we're in one of those periods where there's a lot of threatening talk coming from the North, and we just have to take it for what it is and try to figure out how we're going to organize ourselves to deal with them going forward.

Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed in a roundtable in Seoul, South Korea

Moderator. So it's my great pleasure to welcome you, Madame Secretary, and I think I'll just ask how you'd like to begin, maybe say a couple of things. You've had a long day.

Secretary Clinton. Well, I am delighted to have this opportunity to sit down with all of you, and I'm very pleased to be back here in Korea. I have very pleasant memories of my prior times here, and now to be back and to be in the position I'm in representing my country and working with your country on so many important issues is a pure personal delight. So I'm looking forward to your questions.

Q. You seem to look very happy and joyful during the conversation with the students in Ewha University. How was that, and how does it feel to be back in Korea, not as First Lady but as the Secretary of State?

Secretary Clinton. I loved the event at Ewha University. I had the vantage point of looking out at this very large audience of all these extraordinary young women, and it made me so proud. And I know how each one of them has dreams for her life, as we all do, and I'm hopeful that as we move into the future that more and more of those dreams will come true.

So it was an honor being at the largest women's university in the world, and I felt a real kinship, having gone to a women's college. And to be representing my country and our new President and the Obama Administration, we're making so many changes. It's only been a month that we've had the chance to take office and start working. But on so many important issues, I think you can see that the United States is reaching out. We're listening. We're hoping to form closer relationships. And I chose to come to Asia first because I wanted to underscore the significance of not only the region, but particularly the countries that I am visiting.

Q. Are you going to meet Kim Jong-il? If so, is there any pre-condition? So what (inaudible) when you meet him?

Secretary Clinton. Meet who?

Q. Kim Jong-il.

Secretary Clinton. Oh, well, I have no intention of meeting him. I have no plans to meet him. I did announce today the appointment of a new Special Representative for North Korea, a distinguished diplomat, Ambassador Steve Bosworth, who served here in Korea as well as other posts, who's very familiar with North Korea. In fact, he was just there as a private citizen in the last weeks. So I will be looking to get reports from him and Ambassador Sung Kim, who will continue to lead our Six-Party negotiations. But I have no intention or plans at this time to go to North Korea.

Q. Pre-condition?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I have no plans at this time, so that's not even part of our thinking.

Q. You mentioned that you were going to discuss the contingency plans for post Kim Jong-il regime and (inaudible) in North Korea on the way to Korea. What did you discuss with South Korean Government regarding that?

Secretary Clinton. Well, it's interesting because it's been a matter of public concern for months now as to what was happening in North Korea. You all have written about it. People around the world have speculated about it. But I wanted to make it clear that we are prepared to deal with this government. And I guess the preconditions we have are not in relation to my visiting. That's not something we're even contemplating. The preconditions are as to whether or not we can have a better relationship with North Korea. And we've made that very clear, that if the North Koreans completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons program, then we would consider normalizing our relations with them, seeking to sign a peace treaty in place of the armistice, and working with South Korea and other nations to offer aid, such as energy aid and economic aid.

So I think it's important that the entire North Korean leadership, not just Kim Jong-il but the entire leadership, understand what it is we are offering and expecting. So those are our conditions in terms of going forward with them.

Q. Okay. I am truly delighted to meet you in this roundtable. My question is regarding the alliance of R.O.K. and U.S. You mentioned in Japan the Korea-U.S. alliance is one of the staunchest alliance in the history. Thank you for your good comment on that. The strategic alliance means we understand R.O.K.-U.S. will cooperate in globally in terms of to keep peace and stability in world. But specifically speaking in Afghanistan peace and stability, what do you expect Korea's government have in addition to the civilian assistance? Do you expect some troop[s] to Afghanistan?

Secretary Clinton. Well, let me answer both parts of your question. First, we do want to work toward a vision of a more comprehensive strategic relationship. And I discussed that with the president and the prime minister and the foreign minister. Because there is so much that we can work together to achieve. You know, Korea is one of the G-20 nations, so we're working on the economic crisis and how we can best resolve that. We want to have a very deep collaboration on climate change and clean energy. We are looking for other areas of cooperating on security issues, on development aid, which the ROK is beginning to be more and more involved in. So there are many areas.

Now, Afghanistan is part of that overall relationship, and we are appreciative of what the government has committed to in terms of police training and joint aid with Japan, some very important contributions. And we, at this point, are still doing our own policy review of what we're going to be doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan. So we have no specific requests at this time, but we're friends. We're allies. We might very well discuss something in the future. But any decision is up to the government and the people of Korea.

Q. Thank you, Madame Secretary. You have mentioned incentives you're offering include diplomatic normalization, financial aid, and so on. But it seem that all that had been put on the table before, before the Obama Administration. What needs to be done differently this time around?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think that we have to gauge the willingness of the North Korean regime to return to the Six-Party Talks. And I think it's important to underscore the progress that was made in that context. The dismantlement of the facility at Yongbyon is nearly done. It's something that we want to see completed. And we are aware of the fact that we can't stop, we have to keep pushing the North Koreans to act.

I think there's a kind of assessment period going on. The Obama Administration has only been in office a month. So we want to reiterate our policy so there's no misunderstanding as to where we stand and what we expect. And we're watching to see how the North Koreans respond. So I think that how we proceed depends, number one, on what the North Koreans decide, but equally importantly, what the other Six Parties are willing to do. So I have discussed this in Japan, I've discussed this here in Korea, and I will be discussing this over the next two days in China.

Q. Back to (inaudible). You served as First Lady and senator and ran in the presidential primaries. What drives you to keep going forward and what's your next goal? Again president?

Secretary Clinton. No. I really have been fortunate because I've been able to do a number of jobs that I find just so satisfying and incredibly meaningful to me. And I want to be the best Secretary of State I can be. I want to help my country. I want to support President Obama. I want to convey a message to the rest of the world about American values and our openness to working with others to achieve common goals.

I think there has been a sense that America was absent in many parts of the world, that we weren't as attuned to what other countries were thinking and feeling. And I want to reestablish our presence. It's one of the reasons why we appointed a Special Envoy to the Middle East and a Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and why within the first month we have appointed a Special Representative for North Korea, because we know that we have a lot of difficult challenges, and it's important that we just get up and going as quickly as possible.

Next week, I'll be in Egypt for the aid conference that the Egyptian Government is sponsoring to help with the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza.

So there's a lot to be done as Secretary of State. And I get to work with wonderful people like your ambassador in trying to create new opportunities and solve problems, and that's what we're intent upon accomplishing.

Q. The United States has experienced anti-American feelings. Did you feel any of that while traveling this time?

Secretary Clinton. No.

Q. If so, do you have any plan to change the image of the United States much better?

Secretary Clinton. I was so excited by the positive response that I received on behalf of this new Administration. In every country that I've visited, certainly the governments were very welcoming, but so were the people. We were looking at a picture in the newspaper today of people with a positive demonstration welcoming me to, you know, Seoul. And I mean, that's kind of new to have people actually out on the street waving placards and chanting about how happy they are that the United States is here and that we're going to work together. So I feel that there's a tremendous receptivity around the world to our new President and our new policies.

I don't underestimate how difficult the problems are. I mean, we all wish that the people who are causing trouble around the world would just wake up one morning and decide that they're going to pursue a different path, but in very few instances does that ever happen. So it takes a lot of persistence and careful preparation in order to engage in diplomacy that will result in positive change.

And one of the people with me on the trip is Assistant Secretary Chris Hill, who has been deeply involved in working with the North Koreans and with your government and the other parties in the Six-Party Talks. And it's painstaking work. It just takes an enormous amount of energy and commitment.

But what's the alternative? Just to leave these troublesome situations to grow worse? We don't think that's the right approach, so we're going to be working hard in all of these areas across the world. And I think much of the world is very relieved to see how engaged we are and how determined we are. We can't solve all of the problems, but we can promise our best efforts and we can listen to our friends and allies and other countries who have experience to offer, and that's what we intend to do.

Q. (Inaudible) that the most important relationship for U.S. and Asia is with China. Do you still stand by that statement?

Secretary Clinton. Well—.

Q. (Inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think that that was somewhat misunderstood. We have rock-solid relationships, alliances that already exist with Korea and with Japan, for example. Those are like members of the family. But trying to figure out what our relationship with China is going to be going forward is a very big priority. That doesn't in any way take away from our enduring commitment to our existing allies.

But we do have to all figure out how we're going to deal with a China that is becoming more and more successful. I think there are tremendous possibilities for cooperation because of that. But you just can't stand on the sidelines and hope it happens. You have to be working and focused on the relationship, and we intend to do so.

Q. Yes. This morning in the press conference, you mentioned the U.S. Government are very supportive for the Lee Myung Bak's government policy towards North Korea. And you had a lunch with President Lee Myung Bak this afternoon. What is your feeling and what is your impression on Lee Myung Bak's saying toward U.S. alliance with North Korea issue?

Secretary Clinton. I was very impressed by the president's thoughtful analysis and understanding of the complexity of the relationship. I think that he and his government—because I also spoke, of course, with the prime minister and the foreign minister—are trying to balance the many different challenges that Korea now faces, and at the same time, assume more responsibility in the world.

So North Korea remains an overwhelming concern. And the Six-Party Talks is a process that the government supports as a way of trying to influence the behavior of North Korea. But of course, our alliance and relationship is the centerpiece of the security for the ROK and the president understands that. He believes that it's essential to continue our military presence, our military cooperation subject to the agreed upon changes that will take place over the next several years.

But I was very impressed with the thoughtful approach that he presented in looking at the range of challenges that are confronting Korea, and the willingness to kind of step up and take a leadership role in solving the global economic crisis, in dealing with climate change. The president was very persuasive about climate change. He's obviously studied it and understands it and believes it's a great economic opportunity. So on a range of issues, not just on North Korea, I thought that he had some well thought-out positions that will serve as the basis for deepening and broadening our relationship.

Excerpts of Remarks by Secretary of State Clinton, February 20, 2009Footnote ¹⁴

Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed in a roundtable in Seoul, South Korea

Q. I have a question about what you've learned about the role of Secretary of State on this trip, and what you see your role is. Because you've hired a lot of envoys taking over a lot of big portfolios, including North Korea now.

Secretary Clinton. Well, first of all, having been on the job now for a month, I think there's a tremendous opportunity to reintroduce America to the world and to bring a message consistent with President Obama's vision about how we're going to work with people to find common ground to solve a lot of these big global challenges. And I came into it with the very clear idea that we had so much work to do that I wanted to be able to deploy some of the best diplomats and representatives that I could find.

So from the very beginning of my conversations with the President-elect, I said I believe in envoys. I tried to get the Bush Administration to appoint a special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan back in 2007. Because I think that given the range of issues that we have to deal with, it is not possible for the Secretary of State to manage and handle all of these problems without having a lot of strong people working with her. So I came into it looking to have the authority to appoint envoys, and I'm very pleased that the President agreed with me. And we worked it through, even before the inauguration so that as soon as he was inaugurated and I was sworn in, we could get to work.

I mean, look what we've accomplished in the last month. I mean, we've made it clear we're reengaged in the Middle East because we have a consistent presence with George Mitchell. We are in the midst of an in-depth review of our Afghanistan and Pakistan policy with the leadership of Ambassador Holbrooke. We now will have an experienced diplomat who knows both North and South Korea, handling the North Korea policy on an ongoing basis, which means that I can work with and oversee and be responsible for, but come to Asia and then go to Cairo and then go to Europe, as I will next week.

So to me, this is how I like to operate. And I think it enhances my ability to actually be effective globally. I don't think that one person in today's world, given the complexity and intensity of the challenges we face, could possibly handle all these portfolios without doing injustice to them.

Q. Can you just expand on that a little bit?

Mr. Wood. Let's go—let's do one with Nick, please.

Q. Okay. We'll go with—I wanted to—

Q. Sorry, are you changing the topic? Because I just wanted to follow up.

Secretary Clinton. Let Martha do a follow-up. Yeah, we'll get back to you, Nick. Okay.

Q. Just a little bit more on the special representatives and envoy. So they take this portfolio, they do this. How do you view what you do then? I mean, I know we're going to the Middle East, but do you come in when there's progress, do you come in as—describe how you—

Secretary Clinton. But Martha, I don't think there is one-size-fits-all. I think that I've tried to hire the best people that I can get in the Department, and I've tried to recruit the best people that I could convince to take on some of these especially complex portfolios. They work for me and for the President. They report to me and to the President. And we're in constant contact about what they're doing, where they're going, what options they see. So ultimately, I'm accountable because these are my choices and I have chosen to organize the work we face in this way.

But it's going to be different depending upon the situation. And so I don't think there's any way to say, well, this is how it's going to work because it's more like jazz; you've got to improvise, you've got to have people who are both great individual and ensemble players. Both—all of our envoys and special representatives work with the ambassadors in the region, they work with the State Department, they work with the White House. I've been around long enough that I don't need to feel that I have to handle every single aspect of these difficult problems. I couldn't possibly do that. You can have a lot of motion with no movement, and I expect the people that I entrusted with these jobs to get out there and to be focused on making something happen, or at least to put their best efforts into trying to do that.

So when I'm in Cairo, George Mitchell will be there, too. I'll be speaking for the United States Government, but he will get in the region and will have a lot of information to report. So it's just—it's a constant back and forth trying to figure out how we're going to push this ball forward.

Q. And in the context of that, do you see these envoys as exploring a regional dynamic and finding the natural grain and then just sort of kind of guiding things along that serve American interests? I mean, has this been done before, and is that a very new approach?

Secretary Clinton. I think that's a wonderful way of putting it. I think that in some respects it's been done. What George Mitchell did in Northern Ireland was an ongoing commitment by the United States Government to work with the British and Irish governments, and we didn't have a lot at stake directly, but indirectly it was a matter of great concern to a lot of people that the troubles be paid attention to. I think what you'll see with George Mitchell is similar. He has a tremendous amount of persistence and patience in dealing with thorny problems. I mean, our goal is to try to reignite the willingness on the part of the parties to move toward a two-state solution. And it's a lot harder now than it was. I think the disengagement by the United States for the first part of the Bush Administration was unfortunate, because we weren't there on an ongoing basis to try to look for those opportunities, to see what could happen if we were working with those who were actually committed to a peaceful and secure outcome.

So we may—I may have some more envoys. I mean, I believe in this. I mean, I'll just quickly tell you, when I got back from Afghanistan and Pakistan in January of 2007, I called the White House and I spoke with the National Security Advisor, Mr. Hadley. And I said: Steve there's just—this is just not working. You have Musharraf totally negative about Karzai, Karzai negative about Musharraf. There's not a cooperative relationship. These two places are linked, and we have no way to keep them working on the same page. I really urge you to appoint somebody who can move back and forth between the two countries. And I said I don't have a name. I mean, if you want a name, I can give you some names to consider. But please, you've got to lift this up. The Embassy in Kabul is focused on Afghanistan. The Embassy in Islamabad is focused on Pakistan. We have to take a more regional approach.

And I was obviously unsuccessful, but I believed then, as I believe now, that this will help us figure out how best we can move forward. So that's why we're doing it.

Q. (Inaudible) next stop? Actually (inaudible).

Q. I actually wanted to move to (inaudible).

Q. If we can go—we can get something on China, because we're halfway through, that would be (inaudible).

Secretary Clinton. Sure, okay.

Q. Could I just ask you quickly on Bosworth, who you just announced today. And because you talked about succession, and there were questions today—he was just in North Korea. And I understand he actually brought you and your colleagues and his friends a grim picture of what is happening in North Korea in terms of leadership, in terms of who's in charge, who's determining policy, who's trying to prove himself more Catholic than the Pope, because it's that time; it's a period of transition, perhaps.

Did that affect your thinking when you talked about the succession crisis? How is that going to affect your policy making when you get to it?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I have to confess that I'm somewhat fascinated by the concern that several of you have evidenced about succession, which to me is like the most obvious issue. It's been in the news for months. And I don't think that it's a forbidden subject to talk about succession in the hermit kingdom. In fact, it seems to me it's got to be factored into any policy review that one is undertaking. It's a fact. When you have a government like that that is so personality-centric, you deal with the hand you're dealt, which is the government that is there and the leader that is in charge, but you have to be thinking down the road about when and where. So obviously it's a factor, but I don't see that as news. I think it would be irresponsible for it not to be factored into what you were thinking about. It doesn't change the fact that you deal with Kim Jong-il now and for as long as he's the man who is calling the shots, and that's what we're doing. And I think Ambassador Bosworth is incredibly well suited for the work that lies ahead.

Q. Do you think he's calling the shots?

Secretary Clinton. I have no idea.

Q. Can I just—

Q. (Inaudible.)

Q.—can I just follow up on that?

Secretary Clinton. I mean, we have to assume that he is because that's who we deal with.

Q. Why do you think it was interpreted by some as something that isn't said. Because it's so sensitive that it might offend the Chinese? Because it might have reverberations? Is that something that you, not being a “professional diplomat,” that you are more likely to say what you think, what you think is obvious, and not worry about (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think that to worry about something which is so self-evident is an impediment to clear thinking. And I don't think it should be viewed as particularly extraordinary that someone in my position would say what's obvious. I said it the other day about Burma. Sanctions aren't working and others in the world who have tried to deal with the Burmese regime can't figure out how to engage them, so we're going to have a policy review about Burma. Maybe this is unusual because you're supposed to be so careful that you spend hours avoiding stating the obvious, but that's just not productive, in my view. So I think that it's worth being perhaps more straightforward and trying to engage other countries on the basis of the reality that exists in a number of these settings to try to encourage more thoughtful deliberation about where we're going and how we're going to get there. And so that's how I see it, and that's how I intend to operate.

Q. What do you see as the biggest challenge here, and why is it that there is an impression out there that human rights groups, not just people like us who are (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I think that everything is part of the agenda for this first visit. We have an opportunity, we hope, to engage with the Chinese on a range of issues. Let me just mention three of them. One is economic crisis. China and the United States are intertwined when it comes to our recovery. We both have undertaken stimulus packages. We both face difficult domestic challenges. And I think there is a lot of room for cooperation, which we are going to be seeking.

Secondly, global climate change. It's one of the reasons why I asked Todd Stern, another envoy that we have appointed, to come on this trip, because so many of the opportunities for clean energy, technology and the like are going to come out of this region of the world. I mean, Japan, South Korea, China are uniquely situated to be part of the answer to the problem of global climate change. How we engage them, particularly China, is going to be an incredibly important part of our diplomatic (inaudible).

And finally, a range of security issues. What will China be willing to do with respect to the Six-Party Talks and their bilateral relationship with North Korea? What's their perspective on Afghanistan and Pakistan where they have not only historical interests, but current commercial and security interests as well? There's a very broad security agenda to discuss with them.

Now, that doesn't mean that questions of Taiwan and Tibet and human rights, the whole range of challenges that we often engage on with the Chinese are not part of the agenda either. But we pretty much know what they're going to say. We know that we're going to press them to reconsider their position about Tibetan religious and cultural freedom, and autonomy for the Tibetans and some kind of recognition or acknowledgment of the Dalai Lama.

And we know what they're going to say, because I've had those conversations for more than a decade with Chinese leaders. And we know what they're going to say about Taiwan and military sales, and they know what we're going to say.

Q. So can't you just stipulate that at the beginning?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I mean Matt, there's a certain—I mean, look, there's a certain logic to that. I mean no—I don't mean to in any way to say that we know everything that's going to happen. But successive administrations and Chinese governments have been poised back and forth on these issues, and we have to continue to press them. But our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the security crisis. We have to have a dialogue that leads to an understanding and cooperation on each of those.

So I think it's fair to say that I come with a full agenda. But it's also, I think, fair to say we know, kind of, what the dialogue is on these others. We don't know yet how we're going to engage on the global economic crisis and the global climate change crisis and these security issues. So if we talk more about those, it's in large measure because that's where the opportunity for engagement is. And that doesn't mean that we have any lesser concern about the need for China to be more willing to recognize and protect the human rights of people, from free speech and freedom of religion to everything else.

Q. So much of what you've been saying across the region is openness, dialogue, and soft power. But it seems like wherever we go, whether it's North Korea, Myanmar, and now even on China to some extent, that there just might not be a willingness on some of these regimes to talk to us. I mean, even Iran is—there's a real question. So looking ahead, how are you going to balance both your call for engagement, while at the same time facing the things that in the end might not want to engage on any level and could pose a real security threat?

Secretary Clinton. Great question. I mean, first of all, I think we change the presumption. The President and I, as he eloquently said, are willing to extend a hand if you unclench your fist. Not everybody will unclench their fist. But the message of our extended hand has impact. And so to, in effect, reverse the presumption that the United States won't talk to you because we consider you X, Y or Z, as opposed to United States will consider talking to you in return for you taking certain actions that can lead to some kind of meaningful (inaudible).

So when regimes decide that they don't want to unclench their fist, I think that puts us in a stronger position internationally. I used to say during the campaign that engaging with Iran in an appropriate way had three benefits. Number one, we might actually learn something, because there is a certain opaqueness to the decision-making within the Iranian regime. So actually being in some way involved with them could inform our own understanding of how best to continue whatever policy toward them we chose.

Secondly, something positive might actually happen. You never know. But if you stand at opposite sides of the room and refuse to engage, it's guaranteed nothing will happen. So is it worth trying? Well, I think that is certainly possible. But thirdly, it's important to be seen as the United States who carries a greater moral burden than most other countries because of who we are and what we stand for, that we are willing to reach out. So that if we do face these security threats, we have a more understanding international community that'll say, well the Obama Administration was at least trying, unlike others who said no, we're never going to talk to these people.

And I think all of that added together can change the environment. Now, does it change it a little or does it change it a lot? We don't know. We're just beginning. I think that it is also clear that some of our willingness to even talk like this has upended the calculation of some of these regimes. A lot of international diplomacy is a head game. And part of what we're trying to do is to say okay, let's figure out how we can have some kind of engagement. All of a sudden, you see this panic on the faces of some of these regimes, like oh my gosh, we can't afford to do that. Look, they might actually score points with our public, or they might in some way divide the united front that we have put out.

So this is—this is a work in progress, but I think it's a more effective approach than adopting this kind of hands-off, name-calling, under-no-circumstances attitude. We talked to the Soviet Union during the entire Cold War. I mean, I was of the generation where I was doing duck-and-cover drills to protect myself from a nuclear attack. And yet we always kept talking to them. I mean, they threatened to bury us, they insulted our leaders, they took shoes off and hit desks. We never stopped talking to them. And I don't think that was a sign of weakness. I think that was a sign of strength. And it was also a signal to likeminded people that we were not afraid of the threat that they posed.

Q. I wonder if I can go back to those stubborn issues with Chinese, Taiwan and Tibet human rights. You say that there has been this situation for many years where we speak our piece, they speak their piece, maybe there's not too much progress. Do you have any ideas about how we might budge that dialogue should some of these questions be linked to economic issues where they want us to do things?

Secretary Clinton. Paul, it's hard to answer that in the abstract. If we were to believe that such a linkage would result in changes in behavior, we would certainly pursue that. It matters deeply to me. Remember I made a speech about women's rights and human rights and the Chinese Government cut the broadcast. So, I mean, I've had firsthand experience with some of the reactions.

So I think we are open and we are really speaking strategies that can make a difference. But I also think it's important that we continue on the track with these other issues where we do believe and have reason to believe that there is an openness to engaging. But I think it's going to be a continuing evaluation as we go forward. I'm very outcomes-oriented. I mean, what are we going to do that can possibly create changed conditions, and how do we build on whatever incremental progress we make? And it's a constant equation about one step forward and one step to the side, how do you continue to move the agenda. And that's what we're going to try to do.

Remarks by Secretary of State Clinton, Special Envoy for Climate Change Stern, and President of GE Energy China Wen, February 21, 2009Footnote ¹⁵

Secretary Hillary Clinton, Special Envoy Todd Stern, and Jack Wen delivered these remarks in Beijing, China

Mr. Wen. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to our dialogue on U.S.-China partnership on clean energy. I am Jack Wen, business leader for GE Energy in China.

Madame Secretary, as a company formed by Thomas Edison 130 years ago in your home state, New York, and also headquartered in Schenectady for renewable energy, GE is very honored to be part of your first trip to China as Secretary of State.

And also, GE has been working in China for the past 100 years, and we also view China as our other home.

And also, we are very delighted that Secretary of State, in her dedication, visits the power plant today. And this project really leads the industry in demonstrating advanced technology, maximized efficiency, and also minimized environmental impact. And GE is very proud to be able to participate in this project by providing our high-efficiency gas turbine equipment and technology. And this is another great example of U.S.-China cooperation and friendship.

And now, let me introduce Todd Stern. He is the U.S. President's personal representative, the Secretary of State's Special Envoy on Climate Change. He is holding a critical role, in terms of driving U.S. international policy on climate change.

So, with that, Mr. Stern.

Mr. Stern. Thank you very, very much. Thank you, Jack. I am delighted to be here. I want to give special thanks to not only Jack, but to Mike Norbom of GE, and Wang Yongliang and (inaudible) who run this plant.

I am very pleased to be here in China on my first trip as the administration's Special Envoy for Climate Change, and I am delighted to be joined by all of you here: students and researchers, faculty from Tsinghua University's clean energy research and education center, and Tsinghua's Institute of Energy and Environment Economics.

And I am extremely impressed by this plant. This is exactly the kind of thing that the United States and China have to do together. It is, as you know, a co-generation lifecycle plant. It not only produces electricity, but captures the heat that would otherwise be lost, and heats a million homes in Beijing, including the U.S. embassy. So, we are delighted about that. And it produces only half the emissions of an ordinary coal plant.

This is the kind of thing that we need to do more of. It is creative, it is effective, and it is profitable. And in an age where we are producing, through the use of coal and oil, greenhouse gases that are endangering us all, this is exactly what we need to do.

Climate change is an epic challenge. Scientists have been warning us about this threat for many years. And mounting evidence suggests that, if anything, scientists have underestimated the seriousness of the threat, not the other way around. In our view, nothing is more important for dealing with this threat than a U.S.-China partnership turning their full attention to it. Together, we produce about 40 percent of worldwide emissions, but together we can do great things.

Now, the United States recognizes its responsibility, as the world's largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases, to be a leader in this fight. And we also recognize that China has enormous challenges, in terms of development, development needs and development pressures.

And yet, this is true. There is no way to preserve a safe and livable planet unless China plays a very important role, along with the United States. This is not a matter of politics or morality or right or wrong. It is simply the unforgiving math of accumulated emissions.

But if climate change amounts to a daunting challenge, it also presents enormous opportunity. The only way to address climate change, fundamentally, is to transform the global economy from a high to a low-carbon base, and that presents great economic opportunity. In our view, building a clean energy economy is not only something we can do consistent with economic growth, it is exactly what we need to do right now to build an economy that can compete, not only today, but tomorrow.

And let me say don't believe people who tell you that we can't do this now, that we have to go slow, that we need to wait until this economic crisis is over. The economic crisis is all the more reason why we need to act now. And in the United States, President Obama, in his stimulus plan that was just signed into law, included a major down-payment for clean energy to drive this movement forward in the United States.

China has already taken many important steps. You released an impressive white paper last October. It went through many of the steps that China is taking already. But more needs to be done, and the United States and China can do more together. We can learn from each other. We can engage in joint research and development. We can collaborate on projects involving renewable energy, efficiency in buildings, and the capture and storage of CO2 from coal plants. We can mobilize large-scale investment, and share technology, and we can discover the new technologies that will build a safer and more sustainable future.

I have worked for two Presidents, one also named Clinton, by the way, who liked to say about hard things, “We can do this.” And our new President, President Obama, likes to say about hard things, “Yes, we can.” If China and the United States make common cause on building a low carbon world and put our collective talent, know-how, and inspiration to the task, we will get this job done.

Thank you very much. And I would like to now introduce the principal speaker at this little session, somebody who it's been a great privilege and honor for me to travel with on my first trip, the Secretary of State, who, along with President Obama, is bringing a broader, more collaborative approach to American foreign policy generally, as well as an intensive new commitment to the issues of clean energy and global climate change. Ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary of State of the United States Hillary Clinton.

Secretary Clinton. Well, I am delighted be here this afternoon. This is an extraordinary opportunity to see in action what I discussed this morning in my meeting with Foreign Minister Yang, and then with State Councilor Dai. And when I leave here, I will be meeting with other officials of the Chinese government, and I am particularly pleased that I have a chance to see some of the young people who are going to be making [a] difference in the future.

I want to thank Mr. Norbom and Mr. Wen. I want to thank Mr. Qiu Ming and Mr. Wang Yongliang and (inaudible) for having us here, and for what you're doing here. That is more important than our visit, by many, many degrees. This represents such a wonderful collaboration. And, as Todd Stern, our Obama administration climate change envoy said, we need to figure out ways to do more and more of this.

In our discussions this morning with Foreign Minister Yang, we agreed in principle to a strategic and economic dialogue between our countries, which will be finalized when our two presidents meet together in London around the G-20 summit. And among the most important issues that we will discuss together is clean energy and climate change, and what the United States and China can do together. And there will be a big role for universities, and faculties, and researchers, and scientists, and technicians, and business people, and government officials, all together.

When, 30 years ago this year, the United States and China established diplomatic relations. We weren't thinking at that time about climate change. There were other pressing global issues that we began to listen to one another, and talk together, and try to understand.

But today, we know that climate change and clean energy are two of the biggest challenges our countries and the world face. This cooperative clean energy venture here, at this power plant, acknowledges an inescapable fact, that the interdependent world in which we live requires us to find new ways to collaborate and cooperate in the face of unprecedented global challenges and untapped global opportunities.

Now, addressing climate change and promoting clean energy is not only a global environmental issue. It is a health issue. It is an economic issue. It is a security issue. And we have to look at it all together in that comprehensive way. And I know that the partnership we see here today can bear so much fruit.

General Electric has provided high-tech equipment to produce heat and power with half the emissions, and far less water usage than the coal plants that we typically rely on. And Chinese businesses build the steam turbines that help to power the plant. So it is a true collaboration.

There are a number of partnerships currently underway between our countries, and it's not only at the national level, but business-to-business, business-to-municipality, and even this one, which is particularly impressive: California has partnered with the province of Jiangsu, where Chinese officials have found that, by replacing aging motors in factories and adopting more efficient responses, they can eliminate the need for more than two dozen coal-fired plants with no added cost.

In addition to the cooperative efforts that are linking states and provinces, cities in China and the United States are finding the economic and environmental benefits very attractive when they collaborate on clean energy.

So, what we're seeing here is the kind of in-depth partnership that we want to encourage. I decided to come to Asia on my first trip as Secretary of State, because I think that the opportunities for us to work together are unmatched, anywhere in the world. We take very seriously in the Obama administration, the issue of climate change. And we are going to be taking strong action to lower carbon emissions dramatically, and develop alternative sources of energy. The stimulus package of $790 billion that President Obama just signed includes extensive new investments in clean energy.

And similarly, here in China, your government is recognizing the importance of developing smarter and more sustainable policies for growth.

Now, historically, as you know, the United States had the largest carbon footprint. But in the last year, China has surpassed us, and that is because of your growth. And I laugh with some of your officials. The United States, and certainly the Obama administration, we want China to grow. We want the Chinese people to have a very good standard of living. What we hope is that you won't make the same mistakes we made, because I don't think either China or the world can afford that.

We were industrializing and growing. We didn't know any better. Neither did Europe. Now we are smart enough to figure out how to have the right kind of growth, sustainable growth, and clean energy-driven growth. This plant can be a model that can be adapted and replicated throughout our economies. And I think it is especially fitting that, as part of this new strategic and economic dialogue that we have agreed to in principle, clean energy and climate change will be at the center. Here we have seen, at this clean thermal plant, evidence of what we can do.

Our new energy secretary, Secretary Steven Chu, a famous scientist in the United States, is devoted to putting his extraordinary intelligence to work on behalf of clean energy. And I talked with him before I came on this trip, and he said he wanted to explore ways between universities in the United States and universities in China, where we can jointly develop intellectual property, where we can jointly come up with new technologies. That is the level of partnership we want, where we can each benefit from the fruit of our labor and our intellectual investment.

So, we have come a long way in the last 30 years, since we formalized relations. We will have many issues to discuss between our two countries. We will not always agree. No two people always agree. Two great countries like ours will not always agree. But we do believe that we can agree and work together on what is one of the most important issues that has ever, ever faced humanity. And I look out and see these bright young people, and I know that your future depends upon the decisions that we will make now.

I heard a Chinese proverb recently that says, “Dig the well before you are thirsty.” I love Chinese proverbs.

The 21st century is testing us to determine whether we are smart enough to follow that advice. I think we are. And I know that we are going to do everything we can in the Obama administration to pass out a lot of shovels so we can dig a lot of wells so we can take care of all the thirst that is out there for a new future, a future of tremendous opportunity.

You know, in every generation, people are called upon to make difficult decisions. I remember very well in the late 1970s my husband was the governor of a small state, Arkansas. And President Carter invited us to meet Deng Xiaoping when he came to the United States. And I remember meeting that great leader, who began the 30-year march that China has demonstrated is able to create a thriving, dynamic, economic, and social miracle.

And so, now we have to take the next 30 years, and make our mark. And this is the area where I am most optimistic. So I will leave China tomorrow, encouraged by the possibilities of what a stronger relationship can mean for the Chinese and American people, for our economies, for our security, for our health, for our education, for our energy profile, but most importantly for your futures.

That, to me, is what politics is supposed to be about. Are people better off when you end than when you started? Are people's lives more possible, filled with potential, or not? And I think we have such a tremendous opportunity ahead of us, and I look forward to playing a small role on behalf of my nation, with all of you here in China.

Thank you very much.

Remarks by Secretary of State Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang, February 21, 2009Footnote ¹⁶

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Yang Jiechi delivered these remarks in Beijing, China

Foreign Minister Yang. Madame Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to meet you. First of all, I want to once again welcome Secretary Clinton to China.

Just now, Secretary Clinton and I had an in-depth exchange of views on China-U.S. relations on a wide range of issues of mutual interest. The talks were constructive, and produced positive results.

Both the Secretary and I stated that we attached great importance to China-U.S. relations, and cherish the sincere desire to actively promote China-U.S. relations. China believes that, at a time when the international situation continues to undergo complex and profound changes, China and the United States, as the world's biggest developing country and biggest developed country, have broad, common interests and important common responsibilities on major issues that concern peace and development of mankind.

We should develop broader and deeper relations between the two countries in the new era. The two countries should work together and build a cooperative relationship of mutual benefit and win-win progress in a wide range of areas with a view to promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, at large. Both sides stressed that close dialogues and exchanges at the top and other levels between China and the United States, playing an irreplaceable role in advancing the bilateral relations.

The upcoming meeting between President Hu Jintao and President Barack Obama during the G-20 London financial summit in early April will be of great significance. The two sides will make careful preparations for the meeting, and ensure its success.

The two sides believed that China and the United States should continue to strengthen dialogues on strategic, overarching, and long-term issues of mutual interest in a political, diplomatic, and economic fields. The two sides reached agreement, in principle, on the establishment of the China-U.S. strategic and economic dialogues mechanism, and will engage in further consultations to make detailed arrangement for the mechanism.

I have briefed Secretary Clinton on the recent development of the relations across the Taiwan Strait, and stated China's principled position on the Taiwan question. The Chinese side appreciates the fact that the U.S. side has reaffirmed on many occasions its position that it adheres to the One China policy abides by the three Sino-U.S. joint communiqués, and opposes Taiwan independence and Taiwan's membership in any international organization where statehood is required. China hopes that the United States will properly handle the Taiwan question with caution, and support the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.

The two sides discussed the ongoing international financial crisis and agreed that, as the crisis is still unfolding and spreading, China and the United States should enhance coordination on macroeconomic, and financial policies, jointly work for positive outcomes at the G-20 London financial summit, and reject trade and investment protectionism.

The two sides agreed that China and the United States should intensify exchanges in cooperation in economy and trade, law enforcement, science, education, culture, health, and other fields, continue to conduct counterterrorism and non-proliferation consultations, and military-to-military exchanges, and continue to hold human rights dialogues on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

The two sides believed that cooperation in the fields of energy and the environment is playing an increasingly important role in the growth of bilateral relations. China and the United States will enhance such exchanges in cooperation on the basis of the China-U.S. 10-year energy and environment cooperation framework, including exchanges in cooperation in developing and utilizing clean energy, raising energy efficiency, and strengthening environmental protection.

The two sides also agreed to step up communication and consultation on climate change, make joint efforts in the research, development, demonstration, and deployment of key low-carbon technologies, and work with other projects concerned in meeting this global challenge together.

The two sides agreed to make joint efforts and work with other parties concerned for the success of the Copenhagen Conference.

The two sides also exchanged views on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the Iranian nuclear issue, stability in south Asia, and other issues. The two sides believed that to maintain the Six-Party talks process, and facilitate proper settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, is crucial to the early realization of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and enduring peace and stability in northeast Asia.

The two sides expressed the hope that relevant countries in south Asia will continue to properly manage their differences through dialogue and cooperation, and uphold peace and stability in the region through common efforts.

The two sides maintained that the international nuclear non-proliferation regime should be upheld, and that the international community should make concerted efforts to properly resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations.

All in all, we had a good discussion, and reached broad agreement. I am convinced that, as long as both China and the United States approach this bilateral relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, enhance dialogue exchange and cooperation, respect and accommodate each other's core interests, China-U.S. relations will make greater progress in the new era, and bring greater benefits to people of the two countries and the whole world. Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you very much, Foreign Minister Yang, for your warm welcome, and for such a productive meeting today.

I am excited to be back here in Beijing in the very guest house that my husband and I stayed in 1998. And I know that this is just the first of many trips to China that I will make, as secretary of state.

The foreign minister and I had a wide-ranging discussion that started from a simple premise: it is essential that the United States and China have a positive, cooperative relationship. Both of us are seeking ways to deepen and broaden that relationship, so we discussed matters of bilateral concern. But we also spent a great deal of time on the array of global problems that China and the United States face together, and that we can work together to solve.

This is not just desirable for our two countries. It is important for the global community, which is counting on China and the United States to collaborate, to pursue security, peace, and prosperity for all.

There is an acute and immediate need for this kind of collaboration in three key areas. First, the global economic crisis that hit us first and hit us deeply, and has also hit China. We have to look inward for solutions, but we must also look to each other to take a leadership role in designing and implementing a coordinated global response to stabilize the world's economy, and begin recovery.

To that end, I have invited the foreign minister to visit Washington during the week of March 9th, to work with us as both our countries prepare for the April G-20 summit in London.

The second key area is clean energy and climate change. The minister and I agreed that, based on the good progress that has already been made, the United States and China will build an important partnership to develop and deploy clean energy technologies designed to speed our transformation to low-carbon economies. These technologies are essential, both to spur sustainable economic growth in our countries, and to contain the increasingly urgent problem of global climate change. Areas for useful cooperation include: renewable energy, the capture and storage of CO2 from coal plants, and energy efficiency in our buildings.

We also agreed that we share a common interest in working to promote a successful agreement that climate change talks be held in Copenhagen in December of 2009. We will hold regular consultations between senior officials in our governments on all elements of this broad collaboration.

Third, we discussed a wide range of security issues. China has already contributed in positive ways, as the chair of the Six-Party talks, and in its participation in international peacekeeping efforts. And our two countries, I am happy to say, will resume mid-level military-to-military discussions later this month.

We also look forward to further improved relations across the Taiwan Strait. And we agreed to work together on the best way forward to combat extremism and promote stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan; to prevent Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons program; to advance the global counterterrorism mission; and to pursue arms control and disarmament and stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction. On these issues, we share a common interest, and we should look increasingly to act in concert.

The United States and China also need to work together to make progress on other issues of great importance to the international community, such as Burma and Sudan. As we move forward, it will be important to have a clear and comprehensive framework for dialogue.

Mr. Yang and I, therefore, agreed in principle, on the broad structure of a highlevel strategic and economic dialogue with two tracks. The strategic track will cover a broad range of political, security, and global issues, and the economic track will cover a broad range of financial and economic issues. Secretary Geithner and I will both be fully engaged in this dialogue, which will take further shape in the weeks to come.

In engaging China on a broad range of challenges, we will have frank discussions on issues where we have disagreements, including human rights, Tibet, religious freedom, and freedom of expression. The promotion of human rights is an essential aspect of our global foreign policy, and something we discussed candidly with the Chinese leadership.

There is no doubt that world events have given us a full and formidable agenda. And as we tackle it, the United States is committed to pursuing a positive, cooperative relationship with China, one that we believe is important for the future peace, progress, and prosperity for both countries and for the world.

Thank you very much, Mr. Minister.

Q. With CCTV—I have two questions to Madame Secretary.

In your speech at the Asia Society last week, you said how essential it is for China and the United States to have a positive and cooperative relationship. I wonder if you can further elaborate on the China policy of the Obama administration. And do you think you can tell us who will be the next U.S. ambassador to China?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we are committed to a positive, cooperative relationship. We had a very good beginning today in our discussions. I will be seeing the president and the premier and the state councilor later, as well, to discuss in greater detail some of the issues we raised, and some additional ones.

But the Obama administration wants very much to work with China on the range of issues that Minister Yang and I discussed. And Minister Yang and I will have further discussions when he comes to Washington in March. And our presidents will be meeting when they are together in London for the G-20 summit.

And when we have an announcement about our next ambassador, we will certainly make it.

Q. Arshad Mohammed of Reuters. Secretary Clinton, in 1995, here in Beijing you gave a speech which, at the time, was regarded as the strongest criticism of China's human rights record by a visiting foreign dignitary. It made you something of a hero, both to Chinese human rights activists and their families, as well as in the international human rights community.

Yesterday you told us that, while you would raise human rights, it could not be allowed to interfere with other priorities, like the financial crisis, and climate change, and security issues like North Korea.

How do you answer critics who have already responded to yesterday's comments, suggesting that they are a betrayal of the stand that you took in 1995, and that, as a practical matter, they undermine such leverage, as the United States may have with China on human rights?

And, Foreign Minister Yang, what was your response to Secretary Clinton's remarks of yesterday? Do they strike you as perhaps a more pragmatic and mature approach on the part of the United States to human rights in China?

Secretary Clinton. Well, as I have said, the promotion of human rights is an essential aspect of U.S. global foreign policy. I have raised the issue on every stop on this trip, and have done so here, in my conversations with the foreign minister. Our candid discussions are part of our approach, and human rights is part of our comprehensive agenda.

At least as important in building respect for and making progress on human rights are the efforts of civil society institutions, NGOs, women's groups, academic institutions, and we support those efforts. And I have highlighted their good work in each capital I have visited, and I will do so here, as well, tomorrow.

Foreign Minister Yang. In my talks with Secretary Clinton today, we covered a wide range of areas, including human rights. I said that, given our differences in history, social system, and culture, it is only natural that our two countries may have some different views on human rights.

But I also said that it is the commitment of the Chinese government to continue to engage in human rights dialogues with the United States on the basis of equality and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, to increase our mutual understanding, narrow differences, and work together to advance the cause of human rights. Though these days it's a bit chilly in Beijing, but I have confidence that you will see the biggest number of smiling faces here.

It is provided for in China's constitution that the state respects and protects human rights. The Chinese government attaches great importance to ensuring the basic human rights of its people, and their freedom of religious belief. We are ready to engage in exchanges and contacts with all other countries to promote human rights. Thank you.

Q. A question for both Foreign Minister Yang and Secretary Clinton. In the last 15 years, China and the United States have developed an economic symbiosis, based on a high level of savings in China and a high level of spending in the United States. The economic crisis has raised questions about whether this relationship is sustainable. And I wonder whether it is time for a fundamental rethinking of the economic relationship between China and the U.S., and how might we go about doing that.

And then, one additional question for the foreign minister, China has invested much of these excess savings in U.S. government securities over the past few years. Has the U.S. housing and financial crisis caused the Chinese to reassess your faith in the U.S. as a place to invest the money of the Chinese people, and are you looking for alternatives?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Mark, I think that what you have seen in both the United States and China is an effort to deal with the internal economic crisis that we each face.

Obviously, in our own country, under President Obama's leadership, we have passed a very large stimulus: $790 billion. We have passed the TARP funding that is now being utilized to try to stabilize our banks, and get them lending again. The President has just announced a $75 billion housing support plan.

So, the United States is taking very significant steps to stabilize our economy. And China has done similarly, internally, with its own stimulus package. So, both of our countries recognize that we have to act internally and externally. That is why the Foreign Minister and I discussed the G-20 summit, where we hope that there will be agreements about a new international financial system that will provide supervision, particularly for cross-border capital flows. There is a lot of work that we are going to undertake together.

But I think it is also fair to say that as we look into the future, after we recover from this economic crisis—and I have every confidence that we will—that China will continue to develop its own internal demand. As the Chinese people want more and more, in terms of consumer goods— the Minister and I were talking about how so many Chinese families now have more and more appliances—that will create greater room for internal demand in China.

And I think it would also be fair to say that many Americans have now come to terms with the fact that saving might be a good habit to acquire. So, I am confident that there will be a balanced approach from both of our countries and, working together with the European Union and Japan and other G-20 nations, that we will move forward.

And I appreciate greatly the Chinese government's continuing confidence in the United States treasuries. I think that is a well-grounded confidence. We have every reason to believe that the United States and China will recover, and that, together, we will help to lead the global recovery.

Foreign Minister Yang. Well, I want to first thank Secretary Clinton for inviting me to visit the United States in March. I look forward to visiting your country in March to exchange views with you on China-U.S. relations, and major international and regional issues, and, in particular, make further thoughtful arrangements for the meeting between our presidents in April.

It is my view that the door to China-U.S. relations be opened. The growth of business ties between us has brought real benefits to both peoples of the two countries, in particular the mid and low-income households.

We appreciate the massive steps taken by the U.S. government in boosting economic growth and overcoming the financial crisis. We believe that the American people are a people with creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, and we believe that, by working together, we will be able to tide over this financial crisis.

Turning to the Chinese economy, it is true that the Chinese economy now faces severe challenges brought about by the international financial crisis. In response to the challenge, we have adopted a series of targeted measures. For instance, including, among others, the investment program with a value of $4 trillion RMB yuan, aimed at boosting domestic demand.

I think the implementation of this massive program will also create favorable conditions for other countries to take part in the development in China. We have the confidence to maintain the steady and fairly fast growth of the Chinese economy, and maintain the growth rate of the Chinese economy at about eight percent this year. This, in itself, will be our biggest contribution to the international efforts in meeting the financial crisis challenge, and overcoming the economic difficulties.

It is true that China has used some of its foreign exchange reserves to buy the U.S. treasury bonds. In making use of our foreign exchange reserves, we want to insure the safety of the reserves, the good value of them, and also the liquidity of the forex (foreign exchange) reserves. We will make further determinations about the ways and means we will use in using our foreign exchange reserves, in accordance with the principles that I just laid out.

I want to emphasize here that facts speak louder than words. The fact is, China and the United States have conducted good cooperation, and we are ready to continue to work with the U.S. side.

Q. With Peoples Daily. Foreign Minister Yang, it has been over a month since the new U.S. administration came into office. How do you see the China-U.S. relations during the new U.S. administration?

Foreign Minister Yang. Well, I think, with our joint efforts, the relationship between China and the Obama administration of the United States has already got off to a good start.

We appreciate the statements from the new U.S. government that the United States wants to build a more constructive and positive relationship with China. President Hu Jintao and President Barack Obama discussed this by phone and other means, and they reached a lot of important agreement.

I believe that China-U.S. relations will move forward, will continue to move forward, in a sound and steady way. And the two countries will continue to work together in building and developing a relationship of mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win progress in a broader range of areas.

We highly appreciate that Secretary Clinton took time out of her busy schedule to pay a visit to China. And I think, with joint efforts, our talks have produced positive results.

Well, Madame Secretary, we very warmly welcome you here, back in Beijing. I think particularly people who are working here at this villa in Diaoyutai they are thrilled to see you back here in 10 years. The last time you were here, this building was not built yet. So we hope that you will come back often in the future, and you will be able to see the changes taking place here, even if you just come to Diaoyutai.

The visit President Clinton and you paid to China in 1998 was a very important visit, and you both made very important contributions to advancing the China-U.S. ties. Thank you.

Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed by Dragon TV in Beijing, China

Ms. Yang. I know you have just had a dialogue with the Chinese women. Some of them you have known for 11 years. Well, to the younger generation of women, like your daughters, what kind of advice would you like to give to those who aspire to succeed and lead, but could be afraid of failure?

Secretary Clinton. Well, that's a good way of phrasing the question, because I think that overcoming your fears, whether you're a young woman or a young man, to be willing to take a risk, to try something different, to follow your heart, to pursue your dreams, takes a certain level of courage.

And I just try to tell young people who ask me all the time what I think about the best way forward is to be true to themselves, you know, to listen to their own heart, to do what gives them joy in life, and meaning in their public and professional careers. And I think if you do that, you may change, you may take a different path. But if you can keep focused on what you believe is important, I think that's the best way to proceed.

Ms. Yang. Let's get back to this trip. In your testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, you suggested that U.S. should use smart power to handle international issues. How is that approach, or strategy, reflected in your Asian trip, especially your trip to China?

Secretary Clinton. Well, it is our goal in the Obama administration to reach out to the rest of the world using every tool at our disposal. I like to talk about the three D's of our foreign policy: defense, diplomacy, development.

We want to emphasize, particularly, diplomacy and development. And what I have tried to do in the month that I have had this position is to make clear that we will represent and defend the interests and the security and the values of the United States, but we want to listen.

We are different countries and different cultures. China and the United States have very different histories. And we need to understand each other better so that we can find more common ground. And I was encouraged by my talks with your leadership, that there are a number of areas we can work on together.

We are constructing, and have agreed, in principle, to a strategic and economic dialogue that will not only include the economic crisis, which is very important, that China and America lead on a recovery, globally, but clean energy and climate change, and more educational exchanges, and people-to-people exchanges, more work on health care, medicine, science.

I want to deepen and broaden the connections, not only between government officials, as important at that is, but between all kinds of Chinese and Americans.

Ms. Yang. You know, former Treasury Secretary Paulson used to champion the U.S.-Sino dialogue in the structure of the Strategic Economic Dialogue. Have you convinced President Obama to let the State Department take back the reigns? And, if so, what kind of new framework of dialogue are we talking about?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we are going to have a comprehensive, integrated dialogue. It will be co-chaired by myself and the Treasury Secretary, because I think there was an awareness that our prior engagement at the dialogue level, government-to-government, was very heavily dominated by economic concerns, and by traditional Treasury priorities. They are very important but that is not the only high-level dialogue that needs to occur.

So, we have always had a lot of interaction at many levels of our governments. But what we want to do is to integrate those, and to have our two Presidents, when they meet at the G-20 summit in April, announce the mechanism that we will be pursuing now.

Ms. Yang. Have you found the terminology to define the relationship between our two countries? Because under your husband's administration we called it “constructive strategic partnership,” and then, in the Bush administration we called it “stakeholders.” Have you found the new words yet?

Secretary Clinton. Well, I'm not as interested in the words as in the actions. I think that we have evolved dramatically in our relationship over the 30 years that we have had diplomatic relations. China has grown just exponentially in a way that is a real tribute to the people of China.

But what we now need to do is demonstrate that the United States and China can work productively together, not only on those issues that we have bilateral concerns over, but to show leadership to the rest of the world.

If you just take two major issues confronting the world, I don't think it's realistic to expect that we will see global recovery without Chinese and American cooperation and leadership. I know that it is not realistic to expect that we can deal with global climate change without the United States and China working together.

So, what we are talking about is very concrete and specific. It is not so much the description, as the reality and the content of what we will do together that we're focusing on.

Ms. Yang. Okay. You quoted Chinese story, (speaks Chinese), which means, “We are in the same boat” to tackle economic crisis.

Secretary Clinton. Yes.

Ms. Yang. Yet, at the same time, the “Buy American” rhetoric triggered another round of fear of protectionism. How would the U.S. government reconcile the international responsibility with the demand of domestic constituencies?

Secretary Clinton. Well, President Obama was very quick to act, and to make clear that we are not going to engage in protectionism. And, with respect to the provision that was in the stimulus package, it must be compliant with our international agreements.

We know that a round of protectionism is not in America's interests. It's important that we work with countries like China, and others, to establish a framework for renewed economic growth and prosperity.

Now, we also have work to do at home. Not only do we have to stimulate our economy, but we have to be working to enhance our manufacturing base, work on our automobile industry. So we have a lot of internal decision-making that is important to our economic future. And I think China does, too. I mean, China is stimulating your economy at the central government level. You are looking to deal with problems like migrant workers who no longer have jobs.

So, we each have our own internal domestic challenges. But we cannot solve those at the expense of generating global growth again, which will benefit both of our people.

Ms. Yang. You certainly have your hands full, with all sorts of challenges and problems around the world, from Iraq to Gaza Strip, from nuclear proliferation to climate change. And then, of course, the economic crisis.

How would you set an achievable target for your term, as secretary of state?

Secretary Clinton. Well, it's true, that we have come into office at a time of so many problems. You mentioned a few of the most well known. I don't know that we can pick and choose. It's one of the reasons why I have advocated the appointment of special envoys, because I think we need, as they say, all hands on deck.

Everyone has to work hard together to try to untangle some of these problems, to look for solutions where possible.

So, I don't have the luxury of saying, “I will only work on this.” I have to be very conscious of everything going on in the world. But I did choose to come, for my first trip, to Asia, because I want to send a clear message that the United States is both a trans-Pacific, as well as a transAtlantic power, and that much of what we see as the potential for positive growth and good relations in the 21st century will come with Asian countries like China.

Ms. Yang. Do you think that China should further invest into American treasury bonds? Because there is a debate here—with unclear future, we should stop buying more.

Secretary Clinton. Well, I certainly do think that the Chinese government and the central bank here in China is making a very smart decision by continuing to invest in treasury bonds for two reasons.

First, because it's a good investment. It's a safe investment. Even despite the economic challenges sweeping over the world, the United States has a well-deserved financial stability reputation.

And, secondly, because our economies are so intertwined. The Chinese know that, in order to start exporting again to its biggest market, namely, the United States, the United States has to take some very drastic measures with this stimulus package, which means we have to incur more debt.

It would not be in China's interest if we were unable to get our economy moving again. So, by continuing to support American treasury instruments, the Chinese are recognizing our interconnection. We are truly going to rise or fall together. We are in the same boat. And, thankfully, we are rowing in the same direction, toward landfall.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Taro Aso delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

President Obama. Well, I would just like to say welcome to the Prime Minister.

Obviously the friendship between the United States and Japan is extraordinarily important to our country. It is for that reason that the Prime Minister is the first foreign dignitary to visit me here in the Oval Office. I think it's a testimony to the strong partnership between the United States and Japan.

The alliance that we have is the cornerstone of security in East Asia. It's one that my administration wants to strengthen. We think that we have an opportunity to work together not only on issues related to the Pacific Rim but throughout the world, and Japan has been a great partner on issues ranging from climate change to Afghanistan. We're going to have a very busy session, and I'm very grateful that the Prime Minister agreed to come and I'm looking forward to a very constructive dialogue.

Prime Minister Aso. Do I have to say something? Well, first of all, thank you very much for inviting me as a foreign official, a foreign guest, to the White House. On behalf of not only Japan but as a nation, we are very honored to be here as the first of foreign guests.

Nowadays there are so many issues we will have to (inaudible), and we as a number one and second biggest economies of the world, we will have to work together, hand in hand. And I think we are the only two nations which can offer enough to solve those very critical, vital issue of the world. I do hope our cooperation will help for the future generation of the world.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. Well, I am delighted that we've had the opportunity, first with the President and now here at the State Department, to discuss a range of important issues with the Prime Minister and with his delegation. America doesn't have a better friend in the world than Australia, a friend through good times and hard times on so many of the historic and difficult challenges that have faced the United States and Australia, both singly and together. And we have reaffirmed out commitment to working closely on the range of difficult problems, but also exciting opportunities that lie ahead.

So, Mr. Prime Minister, again, welcome here to the Benjamin Franklin Room in the State Department.

Prime Minister Rudd. Thank you very much, Secretary of State. It's good to be back here in the State Department. I've been here many times before, and it's good to be here with you as Secretary of State. We regard you as a genuine friend of Australia, and it's good to have had this discussion with you.

The Secretary is convening soon a conference in The Hague to galvanize international support for the good people of Afghanistan. This is something which Australia strongly supports. Foreign Minister Smith will be attending. This sort of collaborative effort is important for the future of Afghanistan. It is also further evidence of the strong leadership which we see from the Obama Administration and through the Secretary of State in so many areas of foreign policy.

The only other thing I would say is the Secretary of State's recent visit to East Asia, I believe, sent a very strong and positive signal to our part of the world about this Administration's engagement with the Asian Pacific, which will be such a dynamic part of the 21st century.

So, Secretary of State, thank you for hosting me to the State Department today.

Excerpts of Remarks by President Obama, March 24, 2009Footnote ²²

President Barack Obama delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

President Obama. Hello, everybody. Please have a seat.

Good evening. Before I take questions from the correspondents I want to give everyone who's watching tonight an update on the steps we're taking to move this economy from recession to recovery and ultimately to prosperity.

It's important to remember that this crisis didn't happen overnight, and it didn't result from any one action or decision. It took many years and many failures to lead us here, and it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, and there are no silver bullets.

Q. Good evening, Mr. President. Thank you. Taking this economic debate a bit globally, senior Chinese officials have publicly expressed an interest in international currency. This is described by Chinese specialists as a sign that they are less confident than they used to be in the value and the reliability of the U.S. dollar. European countries have resisted your calls to spend more on economic stimulus. I wonder, sir, as a candidate who ran concerned about the image of the United States globally, how comfortable you are with the Chinese government, run by Communists, less confident than they used to be in the U.S. dollar, and European governments, some of them center-left, some of them Socialist, who say you're asking them to spend too much.

President Obama. Well, first of all, I haven't asked them to do anything. What I've suggested is, is that all of us are going to have to take steps in order to lift the economy. We don't want a situation in which some countries are making extraordinary efforts, and other countries aren't, with the hope that somehow the countries that are making those important steps lift everybody up. And so somebody has got to take leadership.

It's not just me, by the way. I was with Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Australia, today, who was very forceful in suggesting that countries around the world, those with the capacity to do so, take the steps that are needed to fill this enormous hole in global demand. Gordon Brown, when he came to visit me, said the exact same thing.

So the goal at the G20 summit, I think, is to do a couple of things: Number one, say to all countries, let's do what's necessary in order to create jobs and to get the economy moving again. Let's avoid steps that could result in protectionism that would further contract global trade. Let's focus on how are we going to move our regulatory process forward in order that we do not see the kinds of systemic breakdowns that we've already seen. And that requires—that means not just dealing with banks, but also some of the other financial flows that are out here that are currently unregulated. We've got to update regulations that date back to the 1930s, and we're going to have to do some coordination with other countries in order to accomplish that.

As far as confidence in the U.S. economy or the dollar, I would just point out that the dollar is extraordinarily strong right now. And the reason the dollar is strong right now is because investors consider the United States the strongest economy in the world, with the most stable political system in the world. So you don't have to take my word for it. I think that there is a great deal of confidence that ultimately, although we are going through a rough patch, that the prospects for the world economy are very, very strong.

And last point I would make in terms of changing America's image in the world, Garrett, I—you know, I haven't looked at the latest polling around the world, but I think—I think it's fair to say that the response that people have had to our administration and the steps that we've taken are ones that are restoring a sense of confidence and the ability of the United States to assert global leadership. That will just strengthen.

Q. And the need for a global—

President Obama. Excuse me?

Q.—the need for a global currency?

President Obama. I don't believe that there's a need for a global currency.

Q. Mr. President, you came into office pledging to work for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. How realistic do you think those hopes are now, given the likelihood of a Prime Minister who's not fully signed up to a two-state solution and a Foreign Minister who has been accused of insulting Arabs?

President Obama. It's not easier than it was, but I think it's just as necessary. We don't yet know what the Israeli government is going to look like and we don't yet know what the future shape of Palestinian leadership is going to be comprised of. What we do know is this: that the status quo is unsustainable; that it is critical for us to advance a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in their own states with peace and security.

And by assigning George Mitchell the task of working as Special Envoy, what we've signaled is that we're going to be serious from day one in trying to move the parties in a direction that acknowledges that reality. How effective these negotiations may be, I think we're going to have to wait and see. But, you know, we were here for St. Patrick's Day and you'll recall that we had what had been previously sworn enemies celebrating here in this very room—you know, leaders from the two sides in Northern Ireland that, you know, a couple of decades ago or even a decade ago, people would have said could never achieve peace. And here they were, jointly appearing and talking about their commitment even in the face of violent provocation. And what that tells me is that if you stick to it, if you are persistent, then—then these problems can be dealt with.

That whole philosophy of persistence, by the way, is one that I'm going to be emphasizing again and again in the months and years to come, as long as I'm in this office. I'm a big believer in persistence. I think that when it comes to domestic affairs, if we keep on working at it, if we acknowledge that we make mistakes sometimes and that we don't always have the right answer and we're inheriting very knotty problems, that we can pass health care, we can find better solutions to our energy challenges, we can teach our children more effectively, we can deal with a very real budget crisis—that is not fully dealt with in my budget at this point, but makes progress.

I think when it comes to the banking system, you know, it was just a few days ago or weeks ago where people were certain that Secretary Geithner couldn't deliver a plan. Today the headlines all look like, well, all right, there's a plan. And I'm sure there will be more criticism and we'll have to make more adjustments, but we're moving in the right direction.

When it comes to Iran, you know, we did a video sending a message to the Iranian people and the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And some people said, well, they did not immediately say that we're eliminating nuclear weapons and stop funding terrorism. Well, we didn't expect that. We expect that we're going to make steady progress on this front. We haven't immediately eliminated the influence of lobbyists in Washington. We have not immediately eliminated wasteful pork projects. And we're not immediately going to get Middle East peace. We've been in office now a little over 60 days.

What I am confident about is that we're moving in the right direction and that the decisions we're making are based on how are we going to get this economy moving, how are we going to put Americans back to work, how are we going to make sure that our people are safe, and how are we going to create not just prosperity here but work with other countries for global peace and prosperity. And we are going to stay with it as long as I'm in this office, and I think that you look back four years from now, I think hopefully people will judge that body of work and say, this is a big ocean liner—it's not a speedboat; it doesn't turn around immediately—but we're in a better—better place because of the decisions that we make.

All right. Thank you, everybody.

Excerpts of Remarks by President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Rudd, March 24, 2009Footnote ²³

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

President Obama. Hello, everybody. It is good to see you. Just had an excellent meeting with Prime Minister Rudd and his team. Obviously there are very few countries that are closer than the United States and Australia. And Prime Minister Rudd's government, I think, has shown the kind of vision not just domestically but on the international stage that we greatly admire. I expressed thanks to the government of Australia for everything that it's done with respect to Afghanistan, and we discussed the fact that we're engaged in a strategic review process at this point that will lead, I hope, to a more effective coalition strategy. It's not yet completed, but there's going to be close consultation between our two governments.

We spent the bulk of our time talking about the global financial crisis and what's been happening with respect to our respective economies and the world economy. And in the run-up to the G20, I feel that there's a great meeting of the minds between Prime Minister Rudd and myself in terms how we should approach it.

The importance of doing what's necessary to support global demand and job development and economic growth; the importance of a financial regulatory mechanism that prevents the kind of systemic risks that have done so much damage over the last several months; and finally, making sure that, as an international community, we are looking after the severe threat that poor countries, emerging markets, are under as a consequence of this financial crisis, and recognizing that our own growth, our own success in rebounding from this crisis is going to be tied up with what happens around the world. And it's going to be important for the relatively wealthy nations like ours to take leadership in assuring that we don't see a continued downward spiral that has an even more devastating impact in some of these emerging markets.

So I'm very grateful for Secretary—or for Prime Minister Rudd's friendship. He has been one of the—one of the people who I've called on various occasions to— right after the election and repeatedly over the last several months. I think he's doing a terrific job, and I'm looking forward to partnering him for some years to come.

Prime Minister Rudd. Thank you, Mr. President, and it's great to be back in Washington.

This alliance of ours between Australia and the United States has been going for about 65 years or so, and some 13 U.S. Presidents and 13 Australian Prime Ministers. And it's a first-class alliance and it's a first-class partnership between our two countries. And the purpose of this visit is to reaffirm it and to examine its future and to work on its future together.

As the President has just indicated, we spent some time talking about our common challenges in Afghanistan. It's important to remind ourselves why we're there, and that is never to forget those who lost their lives on September 11th; never forget those who have been killed in terrorist attacks since; never forget that many of those responsible were trained and given support in Afghanistan. And so our mission remains to ensure that that country doesn't become a safe haven for terrorists in the future.

As the President has indicated, we spent a huge part of our time discussing what is a global recession, a global economic crisis coming out of a global financial crisis.

And a global recession requires a global solution, and that's why so much of our discussion today focused on common actions we need to take together at the upcoming G20 summit in London.

I think the actions taken by the U.S. administration and the statement yesterday by Treasury Secretary Geithner on impaired asset management is an important step in the overall road to global economic recovery. And actions of that type in Europe and elsewhere are also necessary parts of our long-term global economic recovery.

I look forward to working with the President in London on the concrete actions that we need to agree on there, stimulating our economies, working on the future of the IMF, and working also on what we do to better regulate the global financial system in the future.

The President and I also had an opportunity to discuss the enduring challenge of climate change, and this is an economic challenge and an environmental challenge. It presents challenges and it presents opportunities. But we look forward very much to partnering with the United States in dealing with this big one for the future.

It's going to be tough, it's going to be hard, it's going to require a lot of political leadership. But with our partners around the world, I think our governments are determined to make a difference, and not just to push this one away permanently into the too-hard basket. I think that's good. And I'll just say it's great to have America onboard. It's great to have America onboard on this one.

And Mr. President, to see the return of U.S. global economic leadership, we appreciate that very much, and it's going to be necessary in the difficult times which lie ahead for some time.

Thank you very much for all your hospitality today.

President Obama. Well, thank you. We've got a couple of questions, so we're going to start with David Alexander.

Q. Yes. Secretary Geithner told members of Congress this morning that he needs the authority to shut down nonbank financial institutions like AIG when they get into trouble. Should that authority rest with the Treasury Department directly or through an existing regulator? And how long do you think it'll take to convince Congress?

President Obama. Well, I hope it doesn't take too long to convince Congress.

We are already hard at work in putting forward a detailed proposal. We will work in consultation with members of Congress. That will be just one phase of a broader regulatory framework that we're going to have to put in place to prevent these kinds of crises from happening again.

And as Prime Minister Rudd and I already discussed, it's going to be important that even as individual countries take actions to prevent these kinds of crises, that our regulations spur a race to the top as opposed to the race—a race to the bottom.

If the major economies aren't coordinating in some fashion, then what you end up having is potential capital fleeing to the places with the least restraint, the least transparency, the least openness. And in a global market with capital flows that end up being in the trillions moving in the blink of an eye, it's very important that this end up being a coordinated effort, and I'm confident that working with people like Prime Minister Rudd, we're going to be able to hammer out a better approach than we've been taking recently.

Q. Mr. President, subprime loans make up just about 1 percent of Australian mortgages, yet Australians are suffering because of the financial crisis—losing retirement income and even losing jobs. What assurances can you give the Australian people that everything you do will work to fix this crisis? And, Prime Minister, how confident are you that the President will be successful?

President Obama. Well, as Prime Minister Rudd indicated, this is a global crisis, and what we've seen is a pattern that's been building up. In this case, subprime lending was the initial trigger but there's a larger problem, and that is huge unregulated capital flows, a reliance on bubbles as a driver of economic growth. And what we have said is that it is very important for us to return to a much more stable approach to economic growth—one that's built on improved education; making sure that we are developing the new clean energies of the future; having a regulatory system in place that protects consumers— in the case of housing, for example, here in the United States you saw people being peddled loans that they could never hope to pay back—but also protects the system by ensuring that you're not leveraging off of one shaky loan huge numbers of other financial products that ultimately prove to be worthless.

So this whole issue of financial regulation is going to be absolutely critical. We are very confident that we are going to be able to work in concert with the other major economies to stabilize the financial system. I think all of us are going to have a set of challenges. All the—both wealthy countries as well as emerging markets are going to have a challenge in finding new areas of economic growth that I think are going to be necessary to replace some of the financial shenanigans that have been taking place over the last several years.

One area where we agree there's enormous potential is in the area of clean energy. Both Australia and the United States have vast coal reserves, but we're also very interested in figuring out how do we reduce the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming. If we can take some intelligent steps and we start to discuss how we could work together on this, figuring out how to sequester and capture the carbon that's emitted from coal, as just one element of a broader range of energy initiatives, that's an example of something that can create jobs; also deal with a potential environmental crisis—that's the kind of economic growth that I think we're going to be looking for.

Prime Minister Rudd. Just on what the President said on jobs coming out of clean energy, I welcome today the fact that President Obama has indicated that the United States will become a partner with Australia and many other governments around the world in the Australian initiative for a global carbon capture and storage institute. And that's going to be welcome around the world. Generating jobs through clean coal and carbon sequestration technologies is critical. It's also critical in terms of bringing down greenhouse gas emissions.

On your broader question about U.S. actions, can I just say this—the central economic problem is how you restore normal private credit flows across the global economy. And one of the—the significant impediment to that so far around the world has been the problem of impaired assets on the—on the balance sheets of the world's biggest banks.

What you've seen in the United States is decisive action by the administration through the plan further outlined by Secretary Geithner yesterday. This is really important stuff. It's really fundamental stuff. And a framework within which that occurs and is implemented globally— including by our friends in Europe—once done, you actually then can track the pathway to global economic recovery. That's why the statement, the announcement by the Treasury Secretary yesterday is so important, and welcomed by us and, as you can see, by markets around the world.

The other thing I'll just say is the stimulus packages by the U.S. government and—deployed in recent times—is fundamentally important. We are doing things similar in Australia. The International Monetary Fund says we should all be aiming towards generating 2 percent of GDP with the stimulus over the next couple of years. That's right to provide temporary support for growth and jobs in the period ahead while we're seeing the recovery in credit flows.

So again, in answer to your question, the stimulus package deployed by the U.S. is important not just for this economy, but globally—as are similar actions around the world.

Q. Yes. Mr. President, thank you. I'd like to talk about the G20 a little bit. The French Prime Minister, in a news conference here in Washington this morning, said that you will be supporting tighter international regulations on hedge funds. We've not heard that from you, so is that true, number one? And number two, what exactly do you have in mind?

President Obama. Well, I have not seen the quote from the French Foreign Minister, so I don't want to respond to his quote.

Q. Do you want to go for tighter regulations, though?

President Obama. Here's what I've said—and I think Secretary Geithner has indicated as much—is that it is important for us to have a regulatory framework for various flows of capital and financial instruments that could pose a systemic risk to the system.

How we do that, whether it's a matter of each national government dealing with this and then coordinating effectively across borders, how much of it is reporting and disclosure and transparency versus restrictions on how these various instruments operate—I think that's all something that needs to be worked out. That's part of the effort that we're going to be initiating here in the United States. We will be discussing it at the G20.

And I know that this is an area of particular interest to President Sarkozy. I will be speaking with him this week, and our respective finance ministers have already spoken. So my expectation is, is that coming out of the G20, there will be a framework to deal with a whole host of these financial regulatory issues.

Not all of them may get resolved immediately; many of them are highly technical. But I think the important—the important theme to the whole process is going to be making sure that we are not simply regulating the banks under a framework that was created back in the 1930s, at a time when the global financial system has evolved in a thousand different other directions. There's got to be a more comprehensive view than the one that we've been taking so far.

Q. Mr. President, Phil Coorey, Sydney Morning Herald. If I could go back to Afghanistan, there's a fair degree of anticipation in Australia that we'll be asked to extend significantly, if not expand, our commitment to the war. There's also dwindling support amongst the Australian people for that, for that sentiment. Could you tell the Australian people on the other side of the Pacific why they should—why they should support any such commitment—extended or expanded commitment? And could you offer them any suggestion as to how long that commitment may continue?

President Obama. Well, we are in the process of a strategic review. I don't want to prejudge what is still a work in process. What I shared with Prime Minister Rudd, though, is something that I think the Australian people understand, just as the American people understand, that the threat of terrorist attacks from al Qaeda and their affiliates is not a threat that's going away. We have to take it seriously.

Obviously the United States has in its memory—what's been burned into our memory is the events of 9/11. But I think the Australian people remember what happened in Bali. That's not something that we will forget. And as a consequence, it's important for us to stay on the offensive and to dismantle these terrorist organizations wherever they are.

It is a difficult task. It's one that requires us to stay focused. It requires effective coordinated action. It requires a recognition that we will not just solve these problems militarily, but we're also going to have to be much more effective diplomatically; we're going to have to be much more effective on the development front. And my expectation would be that over the next several years you are going to see a more comprehensive strategy, a more focused strategy, a more disciplined strategy to achieve our common goals.

I think the American people, just like the Australian people, are always frustrated with the need to send our young men and women overseas for extended periods of time. Not only does it cost in terms of dollars, it puts enormous strain on families, and some don't return. And that's— that's always something that weighs on the minds of the public. But I think that the American and the Australian people also recognize that in order for us to keep our homelands safe, in order to maintain our way of life, in order to ensure order in—on the international scene, that we can't allow vicious killers to have their way. And we're going to do what's required to ensure that does not happen.

Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it.