Pledging to strengthen the US ties with Asia, new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [Images] has left on her maiden mission to four countries in the region as the America's top diplomat.
 
The US media has praised Clinton's initiative to start her journey as America's top diplomat from Asia, a certain break from the past when the main focus of the new Obama administration used to be across the Atlantic in Europe.
 
During her eight-day visit to Asia which began on Sunday, Clinton would be making stops in Japan [Images], Indonesia,
South Korea and China.
 
"Hillary Clinton deserves kudos for making Asia her first trip as Secretary of State," wrote Foreign Policy.
 
"Clinton's inaugural trip to Asia is a timely reminder of this fact, and an important signal that the Obama administration is committed to sustaining US leadership in this critical region, building on the good work of the Bush administration," said the prestigious US publication on international relations and diplomacy.
 
Before leaving on this trip, Clinton herself said during on a conference with reporters: "I think it's important to signal that we intend to develop broader and deeper relationships not only with the countries I'll be visiting, but with other nations throughout Asia and the Pacific."

Excited about her first overseas trip as America's top diplomat, she said the trip is to prepare Americans and Asians
for a shared future.
 
"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," Clinton said in her first foreign policy speech as the Secretary of State at the Asia Society in New York.

Japan, the all-weather US ally is the first destination of Clinton. Here she would be meeting senior Japanese officials for discussions on strategic bilateral alliance and cooperation on regional and global issues.
 
Clinton would then travel to Jakarta to hold consultations will Indonesian officials to discuss the close and growing partnership with Indonesia and perspectives on common interests in Southeast Asia. Some believe, by visiting the country, Clinton is making the ground work for a visit to Indonesia by the US President Barack Obama [Images] in near future.
 
Obama, who had spend his childhood here, is understood to be looking towards building a special relationship with
Indonesia. From Jakarta, Clinton would fly back to Seoul, where she would meet senior leaders to discuss the expanding global cooperative partnership with the Republic of Korea.
 
China, the last leg of her trip is considered to be the most crucial. "China is at the heart if Clinton's first trip," The Washington Post reported.