US-China Relations Color Clinton Trip to Asia

27 October 2010

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, 26 Oct 2010 (file photo)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first stop on the Asian tour is actually in the United States. She meets Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara in Hawaii on Wednesday for talks expected to tackle Tokyo's tense relations with China.

Ties between Asia's two largest economies frayed this year after a Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese coast guard ships near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Courting Japan

Japan's new government had been emphasizing closer ties with China, and distancing itself from the United States. Now, says Kerri Brown of Chatham House in London, the territorial dispute with China is giving Washington a new opportunity to woo Tokyo.

"It really underlines the role that the United States has in supplying a security umbrella in the Pacific Region," said Brown. "In the Japanese, who are obviously very reliant on American military support. So it's really kind of a big moment for the United States to re-establish how important the relationship is between it and Japan."

Collaborating with southeast Asian nations

Clinton waded into disputed Asian waters earlier this year when she announced that Washington could mediate conflicts between China and Southeast Asian countries claiming islands in the South China Sea. The subject is likely to come up again this week when Clinton joins the East Asia summit in Hanoi.