Clinton: E.Timor visit reasserts US' Pacific role

Hillary Clinton, the first-ever US secretary of state to visit East Timor, said Thursday that her presence in one of the poorest nations in Asia sent "a clear, unmistakable message" that the United States would remain a Pacific power. Clinton, on a visit to encourage self-sufficiency in Asia's youngest nation where China is playing a growing role, was welcomed by throngs of cheering schoolchildren on the streets and then by barefoot dancers as she visited the Chinese-built presidential palace in Dili. In the highlight of her half-day visit, Clinton toured a coffee processing plant that was launched with US assistance during East Timor's turbulent era and now employs some 4,000 people who at around $8 a day earn twice the minimum wage. "I drink a lot of this," Clinton, draped in a traditional "tais" scarf, said as she sipped the strong brew at the Timor Coffee Cooperative to the sound of beans falling into bags destined for Starbucks in Seattle. Clinton's visit comes only a few months after the impoverished nation marked a decade since independence from Indonesia and as UN peacekeepers -- the current contingent deployed during a violent political crisis in 2006 -- prepare to leave at the end of the year. "We take our lead from the government and people of this country to be as helpful as we can in supporting them in developing the kind of future they deserve," she said. Clinton, meeting with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, reiterated the theme of her Asia trip, saying that her first-ever visit to East Timor sent "a clear, unmistakable message that the United States has been, is and will remain a resident Pacific power." Echoing remarks at a Pacific island summit in the Cook Islands and in Beijing on Wednesday, she denied that the US effort to engage with Asia was aimed at containing China. "We are not here against any other country," Clinton said. "We happen to believe that Asia and the Pacific are quite big enough for many countries to participate in the activities of the region." She said the two powers tried to find "common ground" on issues including Iran, North Korea and the South China Sea, and had built a "resilience" into their relationship. But she also added that, "the United States, and certainly I, are not going to shy away from standing up for our strategic interests and expressing clearly where we differ." The United States has prioritised building ties in Asia, where China's role is growing. But despite the often fractious relationship between the US and China, a senior US official traveling with Clinton said that in East Timor the Pacific powers have cooperated on infrastructure and social aid projects. The half-island nation lies just across the Timor Sea from the northern Australian city of Darwin, where the United States is deploying 2,500 Marines in a step widely seen as solidifying the US presence in Asia in the face of a rising China. With a boost from foreign investment, East Timor clocked 10 percent growth last year. Yet the nation is among the most struggling in the Asia-Pacific, with more than 40 percent of its 1.1 million people below the poverty line. East Timor has however been showing evidence of stability. Elections earlier this year saw a peaceful handover of power to President Taur Matan Ruak, a former guerrilla leader whom Clinton met during her visit. More than 183,000 people died from fighting, disease and starvation in East Timor during a 24-year occupation by Indonesia, which has had close relations with the United States both under dictatorship and now as a democracy. Clinton, the most travelled secretary of state in US history, headed from Dili to Brunei, to become the first top US diplomat to visit all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Clinton has encouraged a united front by ASEAN as it looks to manage tensions with China on the South China Sea, where Vietnam and the Philippines have accused Beijing of waging a campaign of intimidation.