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Clinton Embarks on Three-Nation Tour of Asia

   VOA News 20 May 2010
   Secretary  of  State  Hillary  Clinton,  testifies  on Capitol Hill in
   Washington, 18 May 2010, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
   hearing on the new START Treaty

Photo: AP

   U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves Washington Thursday for
   a  six-day  trip  to  East  Asia,  where  she  faces  a  long  list of
   controversial issues.
   Clinton  will  arrive  Friday  in  Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime
   Minister  Yukio Hatoyama and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.  The two
   countries have been in a spat over the relocation of a U.S. Marine air
   base on Japan's Okinawa island. Â
   Mr.  Hatoyama  had  campaigned  on  a  pledge  to move the Futenma air
   station  from  Okinawa,  reversing  an  agreement  reached  in 2006 to
   relocate the base to a less crowded part of the island. Â
   Clinton  then  travels to China.  She will visit the U.S. pavilion at
   the  Shanghai  Expo on Saturday before joining other high-ranking U.S.
   and  Chinese  officials  in  Beijing  for  talks  on  economic issues,
   including  what  Washington sees as the artificially-low exchange rate
   for China's currency.
   The  U.S.  has  accused  China of keeping tight control over the yuan,
   which  Washington  says  makes  Chinese  imports cheaper on the global
   market. Â
   Clinton  then heads to South Korea, where tensions have escalated with
   North  Korea  since the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship and
   death of 46 sailors.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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