Clinton in Mongolia to champion economic benefits of democracy

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mongolia where she is championing the economic benefits of democracy on a trip meant to reinforce the Obama administration's pivot toward Asia, VOA News reported.

Secretary Clinton says her trip reflects a strategic priority of U.S. foreign policy: after ten years in which the United States had to focus on conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington is now boosting diplomatic, economic and strategic investments in Asia.

"We want to help build an open, stable and just regional order in the Asia-Pacific based on norms and institutions that benefit all nations and all peoples," she said.

Washington's so-called Asia pivot has been seen warily by China, especially the realignment of U.S. military forces and calls for greater civil liberties.

In a speech to the International Women's Leadership Forum in the Mongolian capital, Secretary Clinton did not mention China by name. Instead, she compared authoritarian rule with political progress in Taiwan, Burma, Thailand, the Philippines and East Timor.

"These and other achievements across the region show what is possible," she said. "And, they stand in stark contrast to those governments that continue to resist reforms, that work around the clock to restrict people's access to ideas and information, to imprison them for expressing their views, to usurp the rights of citizens to choose their leaders, to govern without accountability, to corrupt the economic progress of the country and take the riches unto themselves."