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PUBLIC
AFFAIRS SECTION
U.S. EMBASSY
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February 13, 2009
REMARKS
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
At the Asia Society
February 13, 2009
New York, New York
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Vishakha, and thanks also to John
Thornton and Jamie
Metzl and the board members who are gathered here this afternoon. It is
a great pleasure to be
back here in this magnificent building and to have the chance to thank
you for the Asia Society’s
work over many decades to strengthen the relationship between America
and the people and
governments of Asia.
Before I begin, let me just take a moment to say that my thoughts and
prayers today are with the
families who lost loved ones in the tragic crash of Continental Flight
3407, with those who live
in Clarence Center where this tragedy occurred, and with the entire
Buffalo community. I know
the strength and compassion of the people of western New York and have
no doubt that they will
pull together and support each other through this difficult time.
I was deeply saddened to learn that among those who were taken from us
too soon was Beverly
Eckert, who herself lost her husband in the attacks of September 11th.
Beverly became known to
me and a friend to me and to many New Yorkers for her tireless advocacy
for the families of the
victims of 9/11, and she was one of the principal champions of the idea
of the creation of the
9/11 Commission. I will miss her, and I want to just publicly thank her
for all she did in the
midst of her own tragedy.
A half century ago when the Asia Society was founded, Asia was frozen in
a cold war, wracked
by poverty, and seemingly destined for desolation. Few in or outside of
Asia’s borders foresaw
anything but a future of conflict, occupation, and despair. Today, the
countries I will visit are at
peace. Asia is on the cutting edge of so many of the world’s innovations
and trends. It is a
contributor to global culture, a global economic power, and a region of
vital importance to the
United States today and into our future.
Over the past 30 years, I’ve had the privilege of traveling to a very
different Asia. Whenever I
think back on my visits, it’s as if a movie reel of images, old and new,
were running through my
head. I think of the elegant temples of Kyoto, or the rituals of nomadic
life outside Ulaanbaatar,
the intricate handwork of traditional craftspeople in Chiang Rai, the
vibrant markets of Hanoi,
Hong Kong, and Dhaka; the grand hotels of Singapore and Manila, the
calligraphers practicing their art in Xi’an, the historic dress of Seoul
and the traditional dances of Jakarta, or the strum of
the sitar in New Delhi.
And I’ve seen also the skyscrapers and factories, the urban corridors
and high-tech campuses, the
research facilities and modern hospitals – a continent where, now, more
often than not, the rule
of law and free elections have become or are in the process of becoming
the norm, where
entrepreneurship and innovation have transformed economies into global
economic powers.
Asia has influenced world civilization for millennia, as it has our own
culture. Our nation is
home to 13 million Asian American citizens, and our daily life is so
enriched by Asian literature
and art, by music and movies, by food and architecture, medicine and
science, technology and
values.
Today, it is tempting to focus our attention on the tensions and perils
of our interdependence, but
I prefer to view our connectedness as an opportunity for dynamic and
productive partnerships
that can address both the challenge and the promise of this new century.
And that’s what I want to talk about today, how the United States is
committed to a new era of
diplomacy and development in which we will use smart power to work with
historic allies and
emerging nations to find regional and global solutions to common global
problems.
As I’ve said before, America cannot solve the problems of the world
alone, and the world cannot
solve them without America.
At the same time, given the realities of today’s world, we can no longer
approach our foreign
policy solely country by country, or simply by carving the world into
separate regions. With
smart power, we will seek to build partnerships that transcend
geographic and political
boundaries.
In the months ahead, I will press for stronger bilateral, regional, and
global cooperation when I
meet with leaders of Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa,
just as I will seek more
robust engagement in my discussions with Asian leaders in Tokyo,
Jakarta, Seoul, and Beijing
next week.
In making my first trip as Secretary of State to Asia, I hope to signal
that we need strong partners
across the Pacific, just as we need strong partners across the Atlantic.
We are, after all, both a
transatlantic and a transpacific power.
Our relationships with each of the countries I’m visiting, and with all
of our partners and allies
throughout Asia and the Pacific, are indispensable to our security and
prosperity. When we
consider the gravest global threats confronting us – financial
instability and economic
dislocation, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, food security
and health emergencies,
climate change and energy vulnerability, stateless criminal cartels and
human exploitation – it is
clear that these threats do not stop at borders or oceans. Pandemics
threaten school children in
Jakarta and Jacksonville. Global financial crises shrink bank accounts
in Sapporo and San
Francisco. The dangers posed by nuclear proliferation create worries in
Guangzhou as well as
Washington. And climate change affects the livelihoods of farmers in
China’s Hunan province
and in America’s Midwest. These dangers affect us all, and therefore we
all must play a role in
addressing them.
So I leave for Asia ready to deliver a message about America’s desire
for more rigorous and
persistent commitment and engagement, ready to work with leaders in Asia
to resolve the
economic crisis that threatens the Pacific as much as any other region,
ready to strengthen our
historic partnerships and alliances while developing deeper bonds with
all nations, ready to help
prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Asia, ready to expand
our combined efforts on
21st century challenges like climate change and clean energy, pandemics,
and income inequality.
In the Obama Administration, we are also ready to reach beyond
ministerial buildings and
official meeting halls, as important as those are. We’re ready to engage
civil society to
strengthen the foundations needed to support good governance, free
elections, and a free press,
wider educational opportunities, stronger healthcare systems, religious
tolerance, and human
rights.
And we are ready to listen. Actively listening to our partners isn’t
just a way of demonstrating
respect. It can also be a source of ideas to fuel our common efforts.
Too often in the recent past,
our government has acted reflexively before considering available facts
and evidence, or hearing
the perspectives of others. But President Obama and I are committed to a
foreign policy that is
neither impulsive nor ideological, one that values what others have to
say. And when we have
differences, which we will, we will discuss them frankly and specify
those which limit our
capacity to cooperate. As part of our dialogues, we will hold ourselves
and others accountable as
we work to expand human rights and create a world that respects those
rights, one where Nobel
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi can live freely in her own country,
where the people of
North Korea can freely choose their own leaders, and where Tibetans and
all Chinese people can
enjoy religious freedom without fear of prosecution.
Existing problems today, we believe, are opportunities as well.
Exercising smart power begins
with realistic assessments of the world we inhabit. And this obliges us,
no less than other
nations, to acknowledge our own contributions to the global problems we
face.
Let me start with the global financial crisis that hit us first and hit
us deeply. Across the United
States today, families are losing jobs, homes, savings, and dreams. But
this is not our crisis
alone. Its repercussions are also being felt in parts of Asia and
elsewhere around the world. We
have recently heard forecasts from South Korea’s new finance minister
that their economy will
shrink by 2 percent this year, with 200,000 jobs potentially lost. A
Chinese Government survey
of villages last week reported that 20 million of the nation’s 130
million migrant workers are
unemployed. In Japan, a new analysis predicts a larger economic
contraction than previously
forecast. Indonesia’s exports fell by more than 20 percent in December
as growth estimates have
also fallen. And Taiwan’s economy reported a record 44 percent drop in
exports. Throughout
Asia, the demand for durable goods is way down.
The global financial crisis requires every nation to look inward for
solutions, but none of us can
afford to become so introspective that we overlook the critical role
that international partnerships
must play in stabilizing the world’s economy and putting all of us back
on the path to prosperity.
And we cannot respond with a race to erect trade and other barriers. We
must remain committed
to a system of open and fair trade.
Here at home, our government is working to address the housing crisis
and restore the banking
system. Congress is expected to pass a stimulus package that represents
the largest government
effort in a generation to create jobs and increase incomes. China,
Australia, and others in Asia
are responding vigorously. We need multiple engines working together to
reignite global
growth.
At the G-20 meeting in Washington in November, leaders pledged to take
actions from adjusting
fiscal policy to strengthening domestic regulation. The upcoming G-20
meeting in April in
London will provide us with an opportunity to build on that pledge.
Like the financial crisis, other issues also require bilateral as well
as regional and global
approaches. The United States is committed to maintaining our historic
security alliances in
Asia and building on those relationships to counter the complex global
threats we face. I’m very
pleased that Japan and South Korea this week agreed to joint assistance
for reconstruction efforts
in Afghanistan, and that both countries continue to work with us on
global security, especially in
combating piracy off the Horn of Africa.
We will need to work together to address the most acute challenge to
stability in Northeast Asia,
North Korea’s nuclear program. The Obama Administration is committed to
working through
the Six-Party Talks, and I will discuss with South Korea, Japan, and
China how best to get the
negotiations back on track. We believe we have an opportunity to move
these discussions
forward, but it is incumbent upon North Korea to avoid any provocative
action and unhelpful
rhetoric toward South Korea.
The North Korean Government has committed to abandoning all nuclear
weapons and to return
at an early date to the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
We continue to hold
them to those commitments. 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 longstanding armistice
agreements with a permanent
peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and other economic needs
of the North Korean
people.
On a related matter, I will assure our allies in Japan that we have not
forgotten the families of
Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. And I will meet with some of
those families in
Tokyo next week.
Global solutions are essential to addressing climate change and the need
for clean sources of
energy. Now, climate change is not just an environmental nor an energy
issue, it also has
implications for our health and our economies and our security, all
wrapped up in one.
The rapid appointment that the President and I made of a United States
Special Envoy for
Climate Change reflects the seriousness we feel about dealing with this
urgent threat. And I will
be taking Special Envoy Todd Stern with me to Asia next week to begin
the discussions that we
hope will create the opportunities for cooperation.
Now, our nation has been the largest historic emitter of greenhouse
gases, and we acknowledge
that we must lead efforts to cut harmful emissions and build a
lower-carbon economy. But each
of the countries that I’m visiting also have a role to play in this
effort. I will press the case for
clean energy in both Japan and South Korea, and look for ways to work
with Indonesia as well.
Orville Schell’s commentary in Time magazine this week reminds us that
collaboration on clean
energy and greater efficiency offers a real opportunity to deepen the
overall U.S.-Chinese
relationship. So we will work hard with the Chinese to create
partnerships that promote cleaner
energy sources, greater energy efficiency, technology transfers that can
benefit both countries,
and other strategies that simultaneously protect the environment and
promote economic growth.
While in Beijing, I will visit a clean thermal power plant built with GE
and Chinese technology.
It serves as an example of the kind of job-creating, bilateral,
public-private collaboration that we
need so much more of.
Now, you may have heard me describe the portfolio of the State
Department as including two of
national security’s three Ds: defense, diplomacy, and development. Each
is essential to
advancing our interests and our security. Yet too often, development is
regarded as peripheral to
our larger foreign policy objectives. This will not be the case in the
Obama Administration. We
will energetically promote development around the world to expand
opportunities that enable
citizens, particularly on the margins, and particularly women and
children, to fulfill their Godgiven
potential, which we happen to believe will advance our shared security
interests. That
much of Asia enjoys peace and prosperity today is due in no small part
to American efforts over
the last half century to support political, economic, security, and
educational alliances with Asian
nations.
We are proud to have lent American assistance in response to natural
disasters, including
rebuilding efforts after the tsunami in Indonesia and the cyclone in
Burma. And we commend
the Indonesian people and government for settling longstanding civil
conflict in Aceh that
threatened the country’s progress, and for similar positive efforts to
achieve peace and stability
that are working in Timor-Leste.
Indonesia is one of Asia’s most dynamic nations, where human energy and
aspiration combine to
help lead the country to a free and fair system of elections, a free
press, a robust civil society, and
a prominent role for women in the Indonesian Government. We will support
Indonesia and other
countries in the region that are actively promoting shared values. And
we look forward to
working with our other partners and friends in the regions, allies like
Thailand and the
Philippines, along with Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, to ensure that
ASEAN can live up to
its charter, to demonstrate the region’s capacity for leadership on
economic, political, human
rights, and social issues.
Let me also thank Australia for its leadership and friendship over
decades. While I’m not able to
visit Australia on this trip, we know that Australia is one of our most
trusted allies in the world.
And as we have all seen in the news, wildfires have devastated the state
of Victoria during the
past week. President Obama and Prime Minister Rudd have discussed the
situation by phone.
And we have sent forest fire specialists to help the Australians out. We
want our Australian
friends to know that we mourn with them over the loss of innocent lives
in this tragedy, and we
remain grateful for our work together in the past and what we will do
together in the future.
Let me now give you a brief rundown of some of the key issues that I
will be addressing next
week, country by country, starting with my first stop in Japan. Our
security alliance with Japan,
50 years old next year, has been, and must remain, unshakable. In Tokyo,
I will sign the Guam
International Agreement, which will position our security alliance to
meet the challenges of this
time by moving 8,000 American troops from Okinawa to Guam. Japan is also
to be commended
for taking on a bigger leadership role in addressing the economic crisis
in Pakistan and for
working on collaborative efforts to explore space, cure disease, and
offer relief to victims of
disasters around the world. We anticipate an even stronger partnership
with Japan that helps
preserve the peace and stability of Asia and increasingly focuses on
global challenges, from
disaster relief to advancing education for girls in Afghanistan and
Pakistan to alleviating poverty
in Africa.
We also will focus on the very fertile ground for cooperation that we
believe exists with
Indonesia. I don’t need to remind you that our new President is well
known and much admired
there. We now have an opportunity for stronger partnerships on
education, energy, and food
security. The Indonesian Government has also suggested the creation of a
deeper partnership
with the United States. This idea represents a positive approach to
areas of common concern,
and we are committed to working with Indonesia to pursue such a
partnership with a concrete
agenda.
In South Korea, we will be visiting with one of our staunchest historic
allies. And certainly,
everyone who has followed the history of South Korea joins me in
admiration for the transition
that we have observed from static conditions of the past century to the
dynamic state that South
Korea finds itself in today. The United States and South Korea are both
committed to expanding
trade in a manner that benefits both of our countries, and we will work
together to that end.
As members of the Asia Society, you know very well how important China
is and how essential
it is that we have a positive, cooperative relationship. It is vital to
peace and prosperity, not only
in the Asia-Pacific region, but worldwide. Our mutual economic
engagement with China was
evident during the economic growth of the past two decades. It is even
clearer now in economic
hard times and in the array – excuse me – in the array of global
challenges we face, from nuclear
security to climate change to pandemic disease and so much else.
Now, some believe that China on the rise is, by definition, an
adversary. To the contrary, we
believe that the United States and China can benefit from and contribute
to each other’s
successes. It is in our interest to work harder to build on areas of
common concern and shared
opportunities. China has already asserted itself in positive ways as
chair of the Six-Party Talks
and in its participation in international peacekeeping efforts. And our
two countries, I’m happy
to say, will resume mid-level military-to-military discussions later
this month. And we look
forward to further improved relations across the Taiwan Strait.
Even with our differences, the United States will remain committed to
pursuing a positive
relationship with China, one that we believe is essential to America’s
future peace, progress, and
prosperity.
An ancient Chinese story tells of warring feudal states, whose soldiers
find themselves on a boat
together crossing a wide river in a storm. Instead of fighting one
another, they work together and
survive. Now, from this story comes a Chinese aphorism that says, “When
you are in a common
boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together.” The wisdom of
that aphorism must
continue to guide us today.
So I will leave for Asia Sunday with a firm commitment to work very hard
with our partners
across the Pacific, to strengthen our engagement so that the positive
transformations of the past
half-century are replicated, mirrored, made stronger and more obvious in
this century. We have
such an opportunity that I hope we will seize, but it is not just up to
our government to do so. It
is also up to Americans across our country, those of you here in the
Asia Society, in the private
sector, in academia, in labor and the professions, in nongovernmental
organizations all. Let us
commit ourselves to providing the kind of outreach and responsiveness,
understanding, and
commitment that will lead not just to a better understanding, but
positive actions to improve the
lives of our own people here and those who live in Asia today.
Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
MS. DESAI: My goodness.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. (Applause.)
MS. DESAI: Please stay seated for a little while longer. First of
all, thank you so much for
such an amazing, encompassing speech that I know is going to be heard
around the world, as it is
being heard now.
The Secretary has actually agreed to take a few questions. I want to
just remind you all that we
really want to focus on East Asia. So those of who say, “How come she
didn’t say anything
about India,” we’re not doing it now – (laughter) – just so you know.
Because there’s another
time. And the fact is that the Special Representative Richard Holbrooke
is actually in South Asia
now, and we don’t want all of our heavy power all to be in the same
place at the same time. So
do not ask those questions. And what I’m going to do is that we actually
have questions from
online audience, as well as here, and we have selected a few to see if
you would give some
answers.
The first one is very simple, but we would love to hear from you about
what you think is the
significance of having your first trip as Secretary of State to Asia and
not somewhere else?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I believe it demonstrates clearly that
our new Administration
wants to focus a lot of time and energy in working with Asian partners
and all the nations in the
Pacific region because we know that so much of our future depends upon
our relationships there.
And we equally know that our capacity to solve a lot of the global
challenges that we’re
confronting depends upon decisions that are made there. So it was an
easy choice for me to
make. Obviously, we are focused on the many problems that exist today
that we’re confronting.
Right off the bat, actually, the very first day I walked into the State
Department and the second
day of his Administration, both President Obama and Vice President Biden
came to the State
Department to make the announcements that I had asked them to do, naming
George Mitchell as
our Special Envoy to the Middle East and Richard Holbrooke as our
Special Representative to
Afghanistan and Pakistan. So clearly, we are focused on many parts of
the world.
We are in preparation right now for the NATO Summit that will be coming
up in Europe. I will
be going to Cairo on March the 2nd for the Donors Conference that Egypt
is hosting on
humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza. I will be helping to tee up
what we do with the Summit
of Americas that is coming in April that will be very important for our
neighbors to the south, as
well as ourself. We have a lot of challenges in Africa that we are
working hard to address.
So it’s a big world, and we have a lot of work to do. And I think there
has been a general feeling
that perhaps we didn’t pay an appropriate amount of attention to Asia
over the last years, being
very preoccupied with other parts of the world, so I wanted to start at
the very beginning
demonstrating our commitment there.
MS. DESAI: Thank you. That was from Robert Kindle of ARD German
Broadcasting from
Washington, D.C.
The next question is from our own Vice Chair sitting in San Francisco,
Jack Wadsworth. And
he’s asking, and I will paraphrase the question, that under the
Paulson-Bush era, the primary
focus of U.S.-China dialogue has been economic. What do you think are
the risks or potential
benefits of broadening this agenda?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it’s an excellent question, and it’s a
apt description.
Secretary Geithner and I have already met about this because we believe
that the Department of
State and the Treasury Department should be playing a mutually
reinforcing role with respect to
the broad range of issues that the United States and China should be
discussing. We think that
this provides us with the opportunity to engage at all levels of
government simultaneously. How
we’re going to structure those dialogues is something that I will be
discussing with the Chinese
leadership this coming week. But it is important that we understand how
broad and deep the
concerns that we share truly are.
You know, I made a reference to energy and climate change. We are, as I
said, the historically
largest emitter, but China has just surpassed us. They are now the
largest emitter. And this has
such direct effects on healthcare and indices of quality of life, as
well as the economy and so
much else. So we want to have a very broad discussion. How we structure
it is something we’re
going to work out mutually with the Chinese.
MS. DESAI: Well, sometimes people have said that since Secretary
Geithner would be so
focused on the economic stimulus package here and what happens at home,
does that mean that
State will actually take more of a leadership responsibility for the
organization of these under
your leadership?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we know that the Secretary, along with
much of the rest of
our government, is focused on getting our own economy up and going. But
what we can do and
the sequencing of how effective our recovery will be is very intimately
connected with what the
Chinese are doing and the decisions they’re making. So the economic
dialogue is a broad one to
start with. There are aspects of it that I think, you know, very much
belong within the Treasury
portfolio. But there are other aspects which cut across the entire range
of issues that we would
like to address with the Chinese. So that’s why Secretary Geithner and I
have been working out
our own approach.
There have always been, alongside the strategic economic dialogue that
Treasury led during the
Bush Administration, senior dialogues on a range of issues, plus
defense-related discussions. So
there’s been a lot going on, but partly out of choices that were made in
the last eight years, the
economic dialogue, led by the Treasury Department, really did assume a
larger role than a lot of
these other concerns. And we think that it is in our mutual interest to
work out a way that all of
these important issues are discussed on an ongoing basis, and that’s
what we intend to do.
MS. DESAI: Well, I must say from the Asia Society perspective,
it’s wonderful that you and
the Obama Administration generally have focused so much on climate
change because of our
own work under the leadership of Orville Schell. But I should also tell
you that Tim Geithner
happens to be a good friend of this institution because Peter, his
father, who is the head of the
Asia region in Ford Foundation, was also a good friend. So we’re
delighted that you will be
working together, and we hope he will be here as well.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I will extend the invitation.
MS. DESAI: Right. Thank you. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: I don’t know if they’ll let him out of
Washington for anything --
MS. DESAI: Not yet. Not yet.
SECRETARY CLINTON: -- anything yet.
MS. DESAI: This is an interesting question. North Korean
Philharmonic wants to hold a
concert in New York, in response to when the New York Philharmonic went
there. Is there any
condition in changing the atmosphere before such visas could be granted?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I am hopeful that we will be able to
engage the North Korean
Government in the kind of serious discussion that I referred to in my
remarks, one that could lead
with their fulfilling their commitments regarding denuclearization and
nonproliferation to
bilateral relations and opportunities for the kind of normalization that
I think many would hope
to see. So much of it depends upon the choices that they make.
But we will look at all of these individual decisions – like the
Philharmonic coming here, for
example – and consider whether or not that does help us to try to change
the atmosphere to
increase the connections between North Koreans, and certainly, Americans
get it off of just the
government-to-government Six-Party Talk and bilateral discussions that
have been the, you
know, predominant or only way of that kind of formal relationship.
So much of it depends upon the choices that the North Korean Government
makes. And
certainly, we are hopeful that they will not engage in provocative
actions and words that could
create a much more difficult path for us to walk with them.
MS. DESAI: This is about the Bretton Woods Institution. Some
experts have called for a
revision of the Bretton Woods Institution and the UN – especially the
Security Council, as you
know – so that it would account primarily also for the increasing role
of Asian states in global,
economic and political affairs. How, if at all, do you think these
institutions might accommodate
and engage a rising Asia?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think the discussions that have been started
in the G-20 and also
at the G-8 level, as well as within multilateral institutions like the
IMF, the World Bank, the
WTO, as well as within governments, should vigorously consider and
debate whether we need
new institutions, whether we need to, you know, reframe some of the
regulatory processes that
need to be in place. This should all be on the table, and I know that
certainly, the Obama
Administration is going to be implementing new regulations in our own
economy that we think
will make the free market work better and be more effective without the
kind of distortion and
interference that some of the decisions that we’ve seen over the last
several years have caused.
So I think that there is a great – a great receptivity, but the devil is
in the details, and there hasn’t
been the kind of hard work yet done to determine whether the – you know,
the son of Bretton
Woods is a realistic possibility or not. And I’m hoping that that will
be part of the broader
agenda. I know it’s on the minds of the President and the Treasury
Secretary and the National
Economic Council led by Larry Summers.
So from my perspective, I think it’s important for the United States to
lead and rebuild
confidence in our own markets to demonstrate that we’ve learned the
lessons that the last months
have unfortunately brought home to us, in order to both answer the
legitimate criticism from
others around the world and assuage their concerns about our economic
position. In order to
continue to be the preeminent economic power in the United States, we
have to take actions here
that will position us for that kind of future. And I hope that with the
President’s leadership,
you’ll see that happen.
MS. DESAI: As you have said numerous times, actually, that often
in Asia, people have said
after their last financial crisis that we gave them lots of advice on
what to do. And many Asians
now come back and say, “But America hasn’t followed its own advice.” And
therefore, we have
to reclaim that position again --
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s right.
MS. DESAI: -- of credibility. It’s important.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think that – I mean, everyone talks about
our current financial
crisis as being as much one of confidence and trust as of, you know,
credit. And I really believe
that we’ve got to take steps here in order to demonstrate exactly what
Vishakha is saying, that
we’ve cleaned up our own house and we’ve done it in a smart way, where
we haven’t crippled
our capacity to, you know, be the global, you know, credit center, to be
a market maker, to do all
that is done so well historically in this city.
But you don’t have to travel very far to hear the voices of doubt and
even the explicit criticism
coming from the leaders of other countries. And it’s my hope that, you
know, again, we’ll have
a public-private partnership to address these concerns, answer them,
and, you know, lead the
global recovery so that we can once again, you know, be promoting and
creating prosperity here
at home as well as around the world.
MS. DESAI: This question is partly related, but somewhat
different, and this question is from
Michele Ehlers and she’s a co-founder of Global Visionary – Global
Leadership Network in
Fremont, California.
And her question is: How can we upgrade our American dream to a global
vision that the earth
can sustain and that is supportable for every human being? If we
Americans wish to be known
for our leadership in the world and be recognized as true partners in
global development, we
need to take on a new model of life that’s sustainable and possible for
every human being. How
can you best advocate that?
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s a great question, and it was a question
that maybe five years
ago would have been, you know, thought of as kind of touchy-feely, to be
honest about it –
(laughter) – and would not have been entertained seriously in a lot of
the boardrooms and the
decision-makers’ meetings and halls of legislatures.
But I think it is an issue that we have to be smart about addressing.
You see, the threat of global
climate change, the intimidation created as we’ve seen in Europe by
control over energy
supplies, the fear that globalization has not spread its benefits
broadly and deeply enough, those
are all opportunities for Americans, primarily in the private sector and
also in our government, to
start kind of solving these problems, and to do so with the same level
of energy and ingenuity
that we have brought to problems in the past.
We have such an opportunity here, and I’m hoping that, you know, some of
the provisions that
made their way through the difficult negotiations over the stimulus
package will have the result
of helping to jumpstart and support research. We’ve got to get back to
supporting basic science
in America. It’s one of our greatest advantages. And we have not been
keeping up with our
potential for leading the way in science, technology, and research. So I
would hope that the
answer to the question asked doesn’t, in any Americans’ minds, sort of
create the image that
somehow, we would have to give up our way of life. I mean, that seems to
always end up being
the debate, that, you know, this will be economically ruinous for us,
this will cause us to fall
behind, we’ll lose out in what the American dream should be, in a
material sense.
And I just don’t buy that. I don’t believe that is the way forward. Now,
do we have to change
some of how we live? Yes. But, you know, changing to compact fluorescent
bulbs is not the
kind of sacrifice that is going to undermine the quality of our life.
(Laughter.) You know, it --
MS. DESAI: You know, in Australia, now they already have made
that as a law.
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s right.
MS. DESAI: You know, so --
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s right. And so I think there’s – you
know, you can go from
the small steps that each of us can take, which, in the aggregate, would
add up to significant
changes, to the kind of governmental driven decisions that you’ll see
more of in the Obama
Administration. Our new Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is absolutely
focused on how he can
make the case that changes in our uses of energy, and in how we both
create it and deliver it,
would go a long way toward enabling us to live a better, more
sustainable life. You know, even
though the legislative changes that have been made in California over
the last 35 years have
resulted in a lower per capita usage of electricity than in the rest of
the country – and I don’t
think people in California feel like they’re deprived.
So part of what we have to do is have the leadership in both the public
and the private sectors
look to academia – you know, ask for good ideas – and then begin
implementing them, and do so
with courage and a pioneering spirit. You know, we are supposed to be
the problem solvers.
You know, that’s who we’re supposed to be. And it’s time, when we face
these global
challenges, we demonstrate that that’s who we continue to be. And I’m
excited by it. I think,
you know, our children and our children’s children will live very well
if we make the right
decisions now. And if we don’t, I don’t think we can look them in the
eyes and make that claim,
and I don’t want to live like that as an American. I think it’s far
preferable that we step up to our
responsibilities, and I know that’s what the President is trying to
encourage us to do.
MS. DESAI: Well, it’s sort of – you talk about smart power in
international relations. This is
about smart energy use --
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s right.
MS. DESAI: -- domestically and --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah, smart grids.
MS. DESAI: Exactly.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Smart cars.
MS. DESAI: Right.
SECRETARY CLINTON: You know, I mean, it’s not going to happen
overnight. But the
idea that we just continue putting off the future when we’re supposed to
be the country of the
future is so contrary to our nature. And it is, I think, causing some
puzzlement around the world.
But also, people are going to say, “Well, we’ll take advantage of those
opportunities.”
You know, whether or not we have a modern battery industry is up to us.
Whether or not we
have a smart electric grid that will save energy and be able to
decentralize energy production and
usage is up to us. Whether or not we sort our way through our automobile
crisis and end up with
cars that are energy savers as – insofar as transportation permits is up
to us. And you can go
down the list. These are not somebody else’s responsibility, and I think
we have to have a very
significant government commitment, and that’s what we’re trying to do in
the Obama
Administration.
It’s still difficult to make the case. I mean, a lot of what was in the
stimulus originally, which
would have set the path for us, you know, was not left in because it was
thought to be, you know,
economically challenging, should be left to – completely to the private
sector. Well, we forget
we electrified the country because the government stepped in. You know,
we have so many
examples from our past where we went as far as we could with the private
sector, but frankly, it
wasn’t profitable to bring electricity to the northern reaches of New
York and the Adirondacks or
northern Arkansas. The interstate highway system – we built highways to
places that were
barely populated, which are now booming. I mean, we made decisions that
drove our growth
and they were government and business decisions, and I think we’ve got
to get back to thinking
about that and feeling like we’re all on the American team for the next
decade so that we can
reassert our position economically here at home and around the world.
MS. DESAI: On that note, we must bring this to an end. I just
want to say that with our foreign
policy in your hands, our heart is at ease.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you.
MS. DESAI: Please join me in thanking Secretary Clinton.
(Applause.)
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