Kerry heads Thursday on new Asia visit
US Secretary of State John Kerry will make his fifth trip to North and Southeast Asia on Thursday, stopping in China, South Korea and Indonesia for climate change and North Korea talks.
The globe-trotting top US diplomat will also visit Abu Dhabi at the end of his February 13-18 voyage, his spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
In Seoul, Kerry will "discuss ways to expand our cooperation on regional and global issues, and continue our close coordination... on North Korea," Psaki said.
In Beijing, Kerry will highlight the role that the United States and China -- the world's top emitters of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming -- can play in combating climate change.
Kerry will also "relay the message that the United States is committed to pursuing a positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship and welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China that plays a positive role in world affairs," Psaki said.
The Beijing visit, also his second as secretary of state, comes however amid growing regional tensions over China's territorial ambitions after it unilaterally extended its air defense zone over the South China Sea.
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