Special Briefing Skipper: Clinton’s trip to Asia
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. These are the highlights of Tuesday’s special briefing by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and Senior Coordinator for China Affairs at the Department of Treasury David Loevinger: In her first stop ...
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. These are the highlights of Tuesday’s special briefing by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and Senior Coordinator for China Affairs at the Department of Treasury David Loevinger:
- In her first stop in Japan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, including a visit to Hatoyama’s residence. Okinawa basing issues are sure to come up. Clinton is looking forward to hearing "quite clearly from them about what their plans are for the next steps associated with Okinawa," Campbell said.
- After Japan, Clinton will go to Shanghai to stop by the American Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. She will then move on to Beijing to meet Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 16 U.S. government agency heads, and over 200 U.S. officials for the second round of the U.S.-China Security and Economic Dialogue. "It includes virtually all elements of the U.S. government, also key players from the Department of Defense and U.S. Pacific Command as well," Campbell said.
- Prior to the start of the dialogue, Geithner will have lunch with Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, from the People’s Bank of China and then dinner with Vice Premier Wang Qishan. On Monday, Geithner has the honor of delivering the opening remarks at the session, Loevinger said. The highest level meeting will be Tuesday afternoon, when Clinton and Geithner will meet with Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao.
- Loevinger said that the U.S. is still pressing China to move toward a more market based currency system, but didn’t have any progress to report. "While we don’t know when China is going to move, we remain confident that they’re going to determine that it’s in their interest to move to a more market-determined exchange rate," he said. He tried to pitch it as a way for China to avoid a housing bubble. "They’re increasingly worried about the rise of housing prices. And a stronger, more flexible exchange rate would help them manage challenges they face in their own economy."
- No word on when or even if Treasury will issue that report about Chinese currency manipulation that was supposed to come out in April. "And the best thing to encourage an early move by China, on the exchange rate, is to let these discussions play out," Loevinger explained, adding "I don’t want to prejudge how those discussions are going to play out.
- Moving on to Seoul, Clinton will meet with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, and President Lee Myung-bak, where the sinking of the South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, will be at the top of the agenda. The investigation report will come out Wednesday night, Campbell said. "I can tell you that the United States has been deeply and actively involved in all aspects of the investigation, and the United States strongly supports its conclusions as it will be rolled out this evening."
- Campbell spoke about the violent unrest in Thailand and said he was in contact with Thai government representatives as well as the U.S. embassy in Bangkok. "There was widespread action. The government did move against the key encampments in the middle of the city," he said, "Many of those groups have been disbanded. There has been substantial burning, substantial looting throughout the city, and there are reports of sporadic incidents throughout the country as a whole."
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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