In Beijing, Clinton to Discuss Island Disputes
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As part of a 10-day, six-nation swing through Asia that may include her last visit to China as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton and her senior aides said that the United States would urge China to enter discussions with its neighbors over conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The Chinese have resisted holding such talks with the regional bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and since Mrs. Clinton’s last visit to Beijing in May, the Chinese have acted more boldly in the maritime disputes. Mrs. Clinton received support from Indonesia’s foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, who has scrambled in recent weeks to forge a unified position among the association’s members to create a code of conduct aimed at averting clashes over the various claims.
“Absent a code of conduct, absent a diplomatic process, we can be certain of more incidents around the region,” he said, appearing with her.
With recent developments, however, it is not clear China is interested in any such code. The official media in China has adopted an increasingly confident tone in the South China Sea disputes, asserting that the United States should accept that it is in decline.
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For those wondering about the comment that this may be Mrs. Clinton's last visit to China, that is not a prediction about the 2012 election. She has already announced that she intends to step down next year regardless of whether Barack Obama wins re-election.