01 November 2010
United States Committed to East Asia Summit
Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the East Asia Summit, meeting in Vietnam, that the overarching U.S. goal is to help strengthen and build it and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as key forums for political and strategic issues in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The conversations that take place here are of great consequence for every country in the Asia-Pacific region, and the United States looks forward to being a part of them,” Clinton said October 30 in Hanoi. She is the first secretary of state to attend the East Asia Summit, and it was her sixth trip to the region.
Clinton laid out guiding principles for U.S. engagement with the East Asia Summit during brief remarks. She is meeting with leaders and senior officials from at least eight East Asian and Pacific nations during a 13-day trip to the region to show engagement across a range of issues.
The East Asia Summit (EAS) was held by the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with six other nations from around the region — Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. And for the first time, the United States and Russia were invited.
The United States is making an enduring commitment to the East Asia Summit, Clinton said. President Obama will attend the 2011 Jakarta Summit, and the United States wants to work closely with the EAS on its agenda and initiatives.
As the summit evolves, ASEAN should continue to play a central role and provide its leadership, she said, adding that it can translate dialogue into results that benefit all the members.
“We share ASEAN’s vision of EAS as a forum where leaders can have intimate and informal discussions on important political and strategic issues,” she told delegates. “We view ASEAN as a fulcrum for the region’s emerging regional architecture.”
Clinton encouraged the summit to pursue an active agenda that includes many of the most consequential issues facing the region — among them nuclear proliferation, the increase in conventional arms, maritime security, climate change, and promoting shared values and civil society.
The forum should also reinforce the work being done in other forums such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the ASEAN Regional Forum, and the ASEAN Defense Ministerial meeting, she added.
Clinton said that as the United States engages with the EAS and other regional institutions, it will continue to leverage the strength of its bilateral relationships, starting with its treaty alliances — Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and the Philippines — as the foundation of its engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
