East Asia

LifeNews.com, which describes itself as a news agency that brings "pro-life news to the pro-life community," has highlighted an important comment that Secretary Clinton made in her recent interview with the New York Times. In discussing women's rights, she said:

Obviously, there’s work to be done in both India and China, because the infanticide rate of girl babies is still overwhelmingly high, and unfortunately with technology, parents are able to use sonograms to determine the sex of a baby, and to abort girl children simply because they’d rather have a boy. And those are deeply set attitudes. But at the governmental level, there is a great deal of openness and commitment that I am seeing."

Clinton's comments on this deplorable practice are commendable, though she left out some nuance when she said parents do it "simply because they'd rather have a boy." Often, it's a matter of economics: Boys bring wealth into a family, and girls drain tons of money out. Sons earn more money and financially support their elderly parents in communities where nothing like Social Security exists. Meanwhile, in India, parents must pay enormous, financially crippling dowries when their daughters get married. Absolutely none of this morally justifies sex-selective abortion, but these are issues that must be addressed in order to eradicate this shameful practice.

(Obviously, other factors -- such as family and social pressure -- are at play, too. Sex-selective abortion in India has been found to occur at higher rates among more educated people, presumably because they're more likely to be able to afford an ultrasound exam and abortion.)

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A roundup of Hillary Clinton news:

•It's official now: Secretary Clinton will be visiting seven African countries starting next week. She'll commence her trip in Kenya -- the birthplace of President Obama's father -- on Aug. 5 and continue on to South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Cape Verde. She'll also be meeting with the president of Somalia's transitional government while in Kenya.

•Clinton, above, continues today with the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington. Check out the Wall Street Journal op-ed that Clinton and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote about the talks.

•A Wall Street Journal editorial accuses Clinton of "pandering to dictators" for saying last week that if Burma releases Aung San Suu Kyi, it could open many opportunities, such as investment, for the country. The editorial did praise her for suggesting that ASEAN consider kicking out Burma.

•Audio of the BBC's interview with Clinton last week is posted online.

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton will be in the spotlight, literally, this Sunday morning. Back from Asia, she'll be on NBC's Meet the Press for the entire hour!

•Speaking of the spotlight, a New York Times headline today declares: "Asia Trip Propels Clinton Back into Limelight." (And yes, I know that many of you say she never ever was out of the limelight -- the "shadows" thing was all concocted.)

•Clinton has just "taken Asia by storm" with a tour that is "undeniably a success in public-relations and policy terms," a college professor writes in a Scripps Howard News Service op-ed.

•Clinton is viewed as the most intelligent first lady in a Harris Poll that asked about 11 first ladies from Eleanor Roosevelt through Michelle Obama (minus Elizabeth Truman and Mamie Eisenhower for some reason). Regarding the 11 first ladies, 29 percent of respondents said Clinton was most intelligent; Roosevelt was second with 13 percent, and Obama was third with 11 percent.

•Regarding this week's verbal jousting between Clinton and North Korea, a Washington Post Style article compares Clinton to the archetypal schoolyard "overachiever" and North Korea to the schoolyard's "socially inept loner."

•Hillary fans aren't going to like this one: A Boston Globe editorial accuses Clinton of "rookie mistakes" during her Asia trip.

Photo: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images

I'm "speed-blogging" once again with a quick roundup of Hillary news:

•Two days after Secretary Clinton compared North Korea's leaders to "unruly teenagers," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping." (Really? North Korean schoolgirls wear pantsuits?)

•Israel's intelligence agencies minister has criticized Clinton for saying that the United States is considering extending a "defense umbrella" over the Persian Gulf region to deter Iran.

•ASEAN has rejected Clinton's suggestion that it should kick Burma out of the regional organization if it doesn't free Aung San Suu Kyi.

•When asked about her presidential ambitions in a TV interview, Clinton said, "I doubt very much that anything like that will ever be part of my life."

Photo: ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images

Once again, I only have time to offer a quick roundup of Hillary Clinton news. I've been ordered to prioritize copy-editing articles for the print edition of FP, so unfortunately Madam Secretary is "lite" today.

•"The United States is back," Clinton said upon arrival in Thailand for the ASEAN meeting in Phuket. "I believe strongly the United States has to be involved in this region," she declared, referring to Asia.

•Clinton suggested that the United States is considering extending a "defense umbrella" over the Persian Gulf region to deter Iran's nuclear ambitions.

•Clinton urged Burma to release democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, saying it would pave the way for a better U.S.-Burma relationship, including investments.

•Clinton is expected to be made special envoy to Northern Ireland.

•A Hillary Clinton effigy was burned in India in protest of the frisking of a former Indian president by Continental Airlines. (How ridiculous!)

•Clinton and President Obama might have "inflated hopes" about global cooperation, writes Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Trudy Rubin.

Photo: BAZUKI MUHAMMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton is seeking "amnesty" for the two American journalists -- Laura Ling and Euna Lee -- who received 12-year sentences of hard labor in North Korea for entering that country illegally and committing "hostile acts."

Originally, Clinton said the charges against the journalists were "baseless" and said they should be released on humanitarian grounds. Now it appears that the Obama administration is acknowledging that they're guilty, which is why "humanitarian grounds" has changed to "amnesty."

Responding to a question posed at a town-hall meeting with State Department employees Friday, Clinton (shown left at the meeting) said, "[T]he two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident. And I think everyone is very sorry that it happened."

(Interestingly the New York Times reported that it appeared the question might have been planted because the employee who asked the question did not identify herself. According to the transcript of the town-hall meeting, all other people with questions were identified by name.)

What will it take to get Laura Ling and Euna Lee back home? Michael Green, a top Asia expert for former President George W. Bush, told the Times that North Korea would likely want a "high-profile visit" and something in return.

I wonder about the hassles that journalists create for their countries' governments when they deliberately enter countries without permission. Ling and Lee have created a sideshow to the Obama's administration's important priority of reining in North Korea's nuclear program. Photojournalist Tomas Van Houtryve -- who has U.S. and European passports -- entered North Korea by posing as a businessman looking to open a chocolate factory. (He talked about his stunt recently on National Public Radio.) He look photos of daily life in the country, some of which became FP's "The Land of No Smiles." Fortunately, he didn't get caught, but if he had, it would have been somebody's headache.

Photos, top to bottom: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images, Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, above, discussed North Korea's "bad behavior" during their bilateral in Washington yesterday.

A statement issued be Lee's office said that Clinton advocated for cooperation among the United States, South Korea, and Japan in implementing U.N. sanctions to "get North Korea to realize that its bad behavior will bring due consequences."

The statement said that Lee told Clinton that "as long as the United States and its allies maintain a firm stance, North Korea's belief that it will be rewarded for its bad behavior if it waits long enough will dissipate."

Today, Clinton will attend an expanded bilateral with Lee and President Obama, and enjoy a working lunch with the South Korean president.

Below, Clinton and Lee engaged in "hug diplomacy" when she greeted him at the Blair House, the presidential guesthouse.

Photos: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday night, TV comedian Conan O'Brien had a joke about Secretary Clinton:

Hillary Clinton's in the news. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent a stern warning to North Korea to stop their belligerent actions. Yep. Her exact quote was, "Don't make me get all Hillary on your a#@."

(The "a#@" is from a Frontrunner bulletin obtained through Nexis.)

That may just be a joke, but Clinton did have some stern words for North Korea in late April, and in the past two days, she has made some remarks regarding North Korea's bad behavior.

In her Sunday interview on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Clinton said the United States is reconsidering whether to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. And yesterday, in remarks after meeting with Indonesia's foreign minister (see photo below), she was asked by NBC's Andrea Mitchell about the harsh 12-year sentence to hard labor that North Korean authorities gave to American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Clinton said:

Obviously, we are deeply concerned about the length of the sentences and the fact that this trial was conducted totally in secret with no observers. And we’re engaged in all possible ways through every possible channel to secure their release. And we, once again, urge North Korea to grant their immediate release on humanitarian grounds.

Photos, top to bottom: Vince Bucci/Getty Images, TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images