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U.S. role in Asia.

Article Excerpt
[Below are excerpts of remarks as delivered to the U.S.-Asia Pacific Council, Washington, DC, April 11, 2008.]

I've been involved with Asia since I joined the Foreign Service at the age of twenty-one. I was assigned to Hong Kong in late 1960, arriving there in January 1961. In 1964, I was assigned to our Embassy in Saigon after almost a year of Vietnamese language training. And I worked almost continuously on the Vietnam question thereafter, until we signed the Paris agreement on Vietnam in 1973, first as a member of our delegation to the Paris Peace talks, and then as Director for Vietnam on the National Security Council.

Since then, I have continued to work on United States policy towards Asia, as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in 1980-81, and as ambassador to the Philippines from 1993-1996. I've observed Asia's extraordinary transformation from a variety of perspectives. And it is Asia's development, present and future, as well as our nation's relationship with the changing Asia that I would like talk with you about today.

By almost any measure, Asia today is thriving. Not only has the region avoided military conflict for nearly three decades; relations between the major powers have never been better. Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to Japan reflects this trend.

Nearly all the countries in the region have dynamic, market-based economies. And robust, democratic systems are flourishing throughout the region, as evidenced by Indonesia's remarkable transformation, Thailand's recent return to democratic rule, and recent elections in Taiwan and Korea.

There are a few laggards like Burma, where misrule by dictators stifles economic opportunity for an oppressed...

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