NUSA DUA: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived on Indonesia's Bali island Thursday for a summit where a regional maritime dispute with China is expected to top the agenda.
Clinton's plane landed at Bali's international airport in the capital Denpasar, an AFP photographer saw.
She will hold talks with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) whose leaders are meeting ahead of Saturday's wider East Asia Summit.
President Barack Obama will attend the summit which takes in Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, and this year welcomes the US and Russia as new members.
Obama's visit comes as Washington rolls out a diplomatic campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power, including plans for up to 2,500 Marines to be deployed in Australia.
Its more robust role, which smaller Asian states welcome as a counterbalance to China, has already caused friction with the two giants trading warnings that set the stage for a confrontation at the East Asia Summit.
The US has signalled it will raise the issue of China's territorial claims over the South China Sea, with its strategic shipping lanes and rich oil and mineral reserves, despite Beijing saying the topic should be off-limits.
Clinton said Wednesday on a visit to the Philippines, which along with Vietnam has complained China is becoming more aggressive in asserting its claims, that threats were unacceptable.
"Any nation with a claim has a right to exert it, but they do not have a right to pursue it through intimidation or coercion," she said.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.