Clinton heads to China with hopes over sea tensions

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to Beijing on Tuesday after talks in emerging US ally Indonesia, where she voiced hopes for progress in managing soaring tensions in the South China Sea.

Clinton, on her third visit to the region since May, encouraged a united front among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean ) as she stood firm in calling for freedom of navigation in the strategic sea.

The top US diplomat sounded an optimistic note in Southeast Asia’s largest nation Indonesia, where President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said ties between the two nations were good but could be strengthened.

“Of course we have to do more... for further enhancing and strengthening our bilateral friendship and cooperation,” he told Clinton, who headed from the meeting for a visit to the headquarters of Asean before departing for Beijing.

Clinton earlier said she saw positive signs in Southeast Asia and was optimistic over progress on a code of conduct governing the South China Sea, in time for an Asia summit in Cambodia in November to be attended by President Barack Obama.

“I think we can make progress before the East Asia Summit and it’s certainly in everyone’s interest that we do so,” she told a joint news conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Monday.