U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is nearing the end of her 1-week trip to Asia. In China, she has focused on the topics of energy and climate change. From Mark Landler of the New York Times:
The Obama administration hopes to make climate change the centerpiece of a broader, more vigorous engagement with China. For Mrs. Clinton, the two-day stop in Beijing at the end of a weeklong Asian tour, represents an effort to put her own stamp on a relationship that was dominated by the Treasury Department in the latter years of the Bush administration.
“The opportunities for us to work together are unmatched anywhere in the world,” Mrs. Clinton declared, on a hectic day filled with meetings with President Hu Jintao and other top Chinese officials.
Human rights groups have criticized Mrs. Clinton for soft-pedaling Tibet and other issues during her first visit as secretary of state. She said she did not want these disputes to interfere with critical challenges like climate change, the global economic crisis and security concerns.
