FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The swing through Southeast Asia by Hilary Clinton allowed the United States’ Secretary of State to champion the impoverished and oppressed and challenge China whose overbearing reach is causing political convulsions in the region.

She put relations with Laos on a firmer footing, becoming America’s highest ranked diplomat to visit the country in 57 years. Clinton then pushed Vietnam to play a greater regional role, while later in Burma she capitalized on an easing in U.S. sanctions, winning applause from business.

Read more in The Diplomat.