Clinton urges 2010 election for Burma

While speaking today at a news conference in Singapore (where, as seen above, she’s attending the APEC summit), Secretary Clinton urged Burma to plan for “free, fair, and credible” elections in 2010. She also pointed out that it’s in other countries’ interests to have a stable Burma, saying, “Any country that does business in Burma wants to be sure that their investments and their business are safe, and the best way to ensure that is to move toward democracy and the kind of stability that democracy creates.”

At a news conference today, Clinton also said yesterday’s naval skirmish between North and South Korea will not not affect U.S. plans to send an envoy to North Korea to try to restart nuclear talks. Clinton said, “This does not in any way affect the decision to send Ambassador [Stephen] Bosworth. We think that this is an important step that stands on its own.”

A couple of other Clinton tidbits:

•Clinton has been urging Iran to accept a U.N. proposal that lets the country ship low-enriched uranium abroad (to Russia and France) to be further enriched for a Tehran reactor that makes medical isotopes. She also stated on The Charlie Rose Show that, “It is not in Iran’s interest to have a nuclear arms race in the Gulf, where they would be less secure than they are today. It is not in Iran’s interest, to the Iranian people’s interest, to be subjected to very onerous sanctions.”

•Clinton was a star guest at Starbucks today, though she didn’t order anything to drink. She sat for about 30 minutes at a table outside the Starbucks in Singapore’s Suntec convention center. She was joined by U.S. Congressman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) while four diplomatic security agents monitored from a distance. Three of the four ordered lattes and cappuccinos. The manager said, “They came by very quietly. … Suddenly, this branch has become historic, an icon. I feel lucky.”

Photo: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images