NUSA DUA, Indonesia: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Thursday to attend Asian security talks and prepare a visit for President Barack Obama in November.
Clinton will meet her counterparts from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the wider East Asia Summit on Friday.
On Saturday, she will take part in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) security dialogue which includes foreign ministers from ASEAN as well as China, Japan, the Koreas, Russia and Australia.
Issues such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea, North Korea’s nuclear programme, the Thai-Cambodia border dispute and human rights in Myanmar are expected to be discussed in the course of the meetings.
SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON:
Secretary Clinton is en route to foreign travel in Bali, Indonesia. She is accompanied by Under Secretary Hormats and Director Sullivan. Click here for more information.
Clinton will also be laying the groundwork for Obama’s visit to Indonesia in November for the East Asia Summit leadership meeting, which will be the first time a US president has attended the forum.
Clinton’s visit comes after China and Southeast Asian nations announced a “breakthrough” in drawn-out talks on their overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The countries endorsed a set of guidelines designed to reduce tensions in the strategic waterway and create an atmosphere conducive to the eventual adoption of a binding code of conduct.
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan all have overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits and home to shipping lanes vital to global trade.
Clinton riled the Chinese delegation at the last ARF in Hanoi a year ago when she stated that it was in the United States’ “national interest” to keep those shipping routes open for business.
WASHINGTON
US President Barack Obama will participate in talks by the 18-nation East Asia Summit in Bali later this year, the State Department confirmed this week.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was travelling to Indonesia later this month partly to prepare for “President Obama’s participation for the first time in the EAS in November,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
An official in Bali said in May that the island was preparing to welcome Obama on November 19.
Bali government spokesman Ketut Teneng said US Ambassador Scot Marciel had informed the regional authorities of Obama’s intention to attend the regional strategic dialogue, which also includes China and Russia.
It will be Obama’s second official visit to Indonesia, where he spent part of his childhood in the late 1960s.
During his first official trip in November last year, Obama celebrated Indonesia’s evolution from the rule of the “iron fist” to democracy and lauded his boyhood home’s spirit of tolerance as a model for Islam and the West.
Obama said Indonesia’s transformation had been mirrored in his own life, in the 40 years since he left Indonesia, as a youth who was destined to become the president of the United States.
“Indonesia is a part of me,” Obama said, recalling how his late mother had married an Indonesian man and brought her son to then-sleepy Jakarta, where he would fly kites, run in ricefields and catch dragonflies.
Indonesia is hosting November’s regional dialogue in its capacity as chair of ASEAN, the 10-nation grouping which forms the core of the broader EAS.
The United States and Russia were admitted to the 18-nation EAS last year, but Obama did not attend the leaders’ meeting in Hanoi in October, sending Clinton in his place.
Chinese President Hu Jintao is also expected to attend the summit, which closely follows meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Group of 20 rich and developing countries.
Officials in Bali, hit by deadly terror bombings in 2002 and 2005 targeting Western tourists, hope Obama’s visit will prove a tourism windfall reassuring potential travellers.
“Having world leaders meet here will show that Bali is safe. And that has an impact because some countries still have a travel warning, like Australia and America,” Indonesian Travel Association chairman Aloysius Purwa said last month.
“If Obama comes to Bali, it will change Americans’ perceptions.”
JAKARTA
Bali’s police chief has been replaced as part of a nationwide reshuffle in the upper echelons of the Indonesian Police.
Hadiatmoko has been replaced by Inspector-General Totoy Herawan Indra.
The reshuffle was ordered by national police chief General Timur Pradopo. As well as the change in Bali, the heads of East Java, Central Java and South Sumatra provinces will also be replaced.
Hadiatmoko, who announced a controversial “shoot on sight policy” earlier this year, in which he instructed officers to shoot fleeing criminals who had targeted foreigners, will move to East Java, where he will replace Untung Suharsono, who has been appointed head of Jakarta Police.
New top officer in Bali Totoy Herawan Indra was formerly assistant to National Police Operations in Jakarta.
The new appointments were officially made at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday. As part of their swearing in, the incoming chiefs had to recite a new oath promising to avoid corruption and dishonesty.
“There is a new procedure in today’s ceremony, which is an oath for new officers who are exposed to the influences of corruption. This procedure will be undertaken at all ceremonies to inaugurate both high and low-ranking officers,” said Pradopo, who devised the pledge.
Clinton will meet her counterparts from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the wider East Asia Summit on Friday.
On Saturday, she will take part in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) security dialogue which includes foreign ministers from ASEAN as well as China, Japan, the Koreas, Russia and Australia.
Issues such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea, North Korea’s nuclear programme, the Thai-Cambodia border dispute and human rights in Myanmar are expected to be discussed in the course of the meetings.
Washington, DC
July 21, 2011
SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON:
Secretary Clinton is en route to foreign travel in Bali, Indonesia. She is accompanied by Under Secretary Hormats and Director Sullivan. Click here for more information.
Clinton will also be laying the groundwork for Obama’s visit to Indonesia in November for the East Asia Summit leadership meeting, which will be the first time a US president has attended the forum.
Clinton’s visit comes after China and Southeast Asian nations announced a “breakthrough” in drawn-out talks on their overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The countries endorsed a set of guidelines designed to reduce tensions in the strategic waterway and create an atmosphere conducive to the eventual adoption of a binding code of conduct.
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan all have overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits and home to shipping lanes vital to global trade.
Clinton riled the Chinese delegation at the last ARF in Hanoi a year ago when she stated that it was in the United States’ “national interest” to keep those shipping routes open for business.
WASHINGTON
US President Barack Obama will participate in talks by the 18-nation East Asia Summit in Bali later this year, the State Department confirmed this week.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was travelling to Indonesia later this month partly to prepare for “President Obama’s participation for the first time in the EAS in November,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
An official in Bali said in May that the island was preparing to welcome Obama on November 19.
Bali government spokesman Ketut Teneng said US Ambassador Scot Marciel had informed the regional authorities of Obama’s intention to attend the regional strategic dialogue, which also includes China and Russia.
It will be Obama’s second official visit to Indonesia, where he spent part of his childhood in the late 1960s.
During his first official trip in November last year, Obama celebrated Indonesia’s evolution from the rule of the “iron fist” to democracy and lauded his boyhood home’s spirit of tolerance as a model for Islam and the West.
Obama said Indonesia’s transformation had been mirrored in his own life, in the 40 years since he left Indonesia, as a youth who was destined to become the president of the United States.
“Indonesia is a part of me,” Obama said, recalling how his late mother had married an Indonesian man and brought her son to then-sleepy Jakarta, where he would fly kites, run in ricefields and catch dragonflies.
Indonesia is hosting November’s regional dialogue in its capacity as chair of ASEAN, the 10-nation grouping which forms the core of the broader EAS.
The United States and Russia were admitted to the 18-nation EAS last year, but Obama did not attend the leaders’ meeting in Hanoi in October, sending Clinton in his place.
Chinese President Hu Jintao is also expected to attend the summit, which closely follows meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Group of 20 rich and developing countries.
Officials in Bali, hit by deadly terror bombings in 2002 and 2005 targeting Western tourists, hope Obama’s visit will prove a tourism windfall reassuring potential travellers.
“Having world leaders meet here will show that Bali is safe. And that has an impact because some countries still have a travel warning, like Australia and America,” Indonesian Travel Association chairman Aloysius Purwa said last month.
“If Obama comes to Bali, it will change Americans’ perceptions.”
JAKARTA
Bali’s police chief has been replaced as part of a nationwide reshuffle in the upper echelons of the Indonesian Police.
Hadiatmoko has been replaced by Inspector-General Totoy Herawan Indra.
The reshuffle was ordered by national police chief General Timur Pradopo. As well as the change in Bali, the heads of East Java, Central Java and South Sumatra provinces will also be replaced.
Hadiatmoko, who announced a controversial “shoot on sight policy” earlier this year, in which he instructed officers to shoot fleeing criminals who had targeted foreigners, will move to East Java, where he will replace Untung Suharsono, who has been appointed head of Jakarta Police.
New top officer in Bali Totoy Herawan Indra was formerly assistant to National Police Operations in Jakarta.
The new appointments were officially made at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday. As part of their swearing in, the incoming chiefs had to recite a new oath promising to avoid corruption and dishonesty.
“There is a new procedure in today’s ceremony, which is an oath for new officers who are exposed to the influences of corruption. This procedure will be undertaken at all ceremonies to inaugurate both high and low-ranking officers,” said Pradopo, who devised the pledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment