US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday 7 June on ABC television in the US that she never dreamed she would be asked by President Barack Obama to take responsibility for foreign policy and when he did ask, she initially said no. He was “was quite persistent and very persuasive,” however, and in the end she said yes. ABC, CNN
The United States and Britain are encouraging China to come out into the open about what happened during the student uprising in Tiananmen Square in Beijing 20 years ago, June 1989, reports the BBC, with statements from British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton’s statement is interpreted by at least one experienced observer as the US taking a firmer stance with China on human rights. Western media are carrying the 20th anniversary story as headlines news, while in China security is tight and there is virtually no media mention of Tiananmen. CNN‘s bureau chief Jaime Florcruz, who has been in Beijing for some 30 years, notes that for the younger generation of Chinese, there is little interest in the protests of two decades ago, a theme carried by Le Monde (Fre). Globe & Mail, Canada, New York Times, Times, UK,
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Russians and US teams met for five rounds of talks from 1-3 June, the followup to an agreement in 9 March 2009 in Geneva between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, to re-open the START (strategic arms reduction treaty) talks. A spokesperson for the US Mission to the UN in Geneva would comment only that “The current 3-day round of talks on an agreement to replace the START treaty has concluded in Geneva,” adding that the US was represented at the talks “by an interagency team lead by Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation.”
Cuba and the US have agreed to talks about improving migration from the island to the US to make it safer and more orderly. They will also discuss direct mail service between the two countries. Senior State department officials in Washington confirmed Saturday that Cuban officials have left open the possibility that future talks might include other topics, such as disaster-preparedness, counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism. US President Barack Obama earlier lifted restrictions on family visits and remittances to Cuba.
This comes as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Honduras for a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), where calls for Cuba’s readmission to the group will be debated. CNN, USA Today
US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, struck a relatively upbeat note on the economy, saying the downturn appears to be losing force, in a speech where he emphasized US-China cooperation, at the start of his first visit with Chinese officials in Beijing, Sunday. He meets Monday with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Qishan, vice-premier. Xinhua, the official Chinese media, notes that according to their diplomatic sources his visit prepares the way for the “first China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington DC this summer,” with Geithner and Wang responsible for the economic dialogue and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo in charge of the strategic talks. New York Times/IHT
Updated 121:20 In the sharpest message sent in years by a US administration to Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters after meeting with the Egyptian foreign minister that Israel must stop all settlements activities in Palestine, with no exceptions. “We think it is in the best interest of the effort that we are engaged in, that settlement expansion cease,” she said, noting that US President Barack Obama had been very clear on the matter in a recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is due in Washington 28 May, and the settlements will be a topic in scheduled talks with Obama. Al Jazeera, BBC, New York Times and analysis, Jerusalem Post
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing the US Foreign Affairs Committee, had harsh words for Pakistan Wednesday 22 April, accusing the country of allowing terrorists to manage parts of the country, a reference to the recent agreement to allow Sharia law in the Swat Valley, a popular resort area, a demand made by Taliban groups. She called on expatriates and Pakistan’s population to stand up to the “exitential threat” posed by “a loosely confederated group of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state, a nuclear-armed state.” BBC, CNN
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Part of the good-natured banter between the Hillary Clinton and Sergey Lavrov in Geneva Friday night centred around the “reset” button that Clinton offered Lavrov as a gift. Read more…
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “We are ready to study ways to widen the scope of mutual cooperation” in the matter of fiscal fraud, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a Friday evening meeting in Geneva. High on the list of topics the two leaders covered was Switzerland’s new role, which went into effect 5 March, of providing interest sections to Georgia and Russia, representing the interests of each with the other.
The next step?
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Friday 6 March meeting in Geneva between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov could well enter the records as a key encounter, if US hopes for the meeting are realized. The United States and Russia have a long history of meeting on neutral territory in Geneva to discuss the state of the world and their own complex relationship. “There have been letters between the leaders, between the foreign ministers, outlining a way forward and a positive agenda, and it is on that that we want to build, but with our eyes open about some of the differences we have,” a State Department spokesman, Gordon Duguid, told a White House press briefing Friday 26 February.
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be in Geneva at the end of next week, part of a seven-day swing through Israel, Egypt, the Palestinian Territories, Belgium, Switzerland, and Turkey 1-7 March 2009.
The man who will name the successor to Hillary Clinton’s seat as US senator from New York, Governor David Patterson, confirmed Monday that Caroline Kennedy is interested in being appointed to the position. She is the 51-year-old daughter of former US President John F Kennedy and has, until now, steered clear of political jobs. Clinton leaves the post vacant to become US Secretary of State. CNN
