U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss tensions in the South China Sea during a trip through the Asia-Pacific, which will include stops in China and Russia, the State Department said Tuesday. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters that the trip, for which Hillary Clinton will depart on Thursday, will include stops in six countries. According to Nuland, Hillary Clinton will begin by visiting the Cook Islands Friday for talks with Pacific islands leaders. She will then travel to Indonesia, China, Brunei, and will become the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit East Timor. Hillary Clinton will then travel to Vladivostok, Russia for the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on September 8 through September 9, Nuland said. The spokeswoman said that she expects that the South China Sea will be discussed often throughout Clinton's travel. "We are continuing to urge a multilateral conversation about a code of conduct in the South China Sea that is in keeping with international law and the Law of the Sea treaty. We continue to think that that's the best way to address these disputes, so I think you will see it come up on many of these stops," Nuland said.
