Clinton's second stop was Indonesia, where she indicated her country's intention to mend its ties with the Islamic world. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country; Obama lived there for several years as a child. The United States hoped to improve its relations with the Islamic world through this visit. Officials in the new administration have expressed on many occasions their desire to rectify the mistakes of the previous administration in its relations with the Islamic world. Yang pointed out that since Indonesia has successfully merged different cultures and ethnic groups inside the country, it could serve as a bridge linking the Islamic world and the United States. Yang added that Washington also needs Indonesia's cooperation in counterterrorism. In addition, as Indonesia is one of the founders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Clinton's visit was also expected to strengthen economic and security ties with Southeast Asian countries.

Clinton expressed the U.S. stance on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula as well as fostering the alliance between Washington and Seoul during her visit to South Korea from February 19 to 20. She said that the United States hoped to put the six-party talks back on the right track through further consultation with South Korea and Japan. She also released a friendly message to North Korea in her speech to the Asia Society. "If North Korea is genuinely prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons program, the Obama administration will be willing to normalize bilateral relations, replace the peninsula's long-standing armistice agreements with a permanent peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and other economic needs of the North Korean people," she said.

Kim Yong Nam, President of North Korea's Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, said on February 15 that North Korea would be willing to develop diplomatic relations with countries that are friendly to Pyongyang, which could be regarded as extending an olive branch to the United States. But North Korea showed a surprisingly stony face before Clinton's arrival in Seoul, announcing that it was ready to test a long-range missile for launching a communications satellite. "North Korea's strategy is to make peace through pressure," Yang said. "Those hard moves toward Seoul were also intended to urge Washington to change the Bush administration's policy, so as to realize diplomatic normalization through negotiation and then integrate into international community."

All the above-mentioned topics were brought up again when Clinton visited China from February 20 to 22. This last stop was regarded as the most important by international observers, not only because of the deteriorating economic crisis, but also due to the growing economic bonds between the two sides in various fields, said observers.

Bilateral relations to be upgraded

The Obama administration has expressed strong interest in strengthening the U.S. relations with China. In her speech on February 13, Clinton said she aimed to cultivate constructive relations with the Chinese leadership through this trip. "We believe that the United States and China can benefit from and contribute to each other's successes," she said. She also published an article in the journal Foreign Affairs saying the U.S-China relationship is the world's most important bilateral relationship in the 21st century.

Analyzing the changing international situation and China's development, the United States realizes that China is playing a more and more important role in the world. "It believes that without China's cooperation, not only will its own global strategy be influenced, but also some significant international issues cannot be easily settled," Yang said.

Clinton exchanged views with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on issues that concern both sides. They agreed that in the context of the global financial crisis, the two countries must strengthen their strategic cooperation. They decided to upgrade the current strategic economic dialogue mechanism into a regular meeting between leaders of higher rank. Yan Xuetong, Director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University, said that upgrading the dialogue mechanism benefits both sides. "China hopes to stabilize the Sino-U.S. relationship through a mechanized dialogue between leadership of the two sides, while the United States expects to band political issues together with economic ones," he said.