Candid Clinton off script overseas

BEIJING | So much for the “diplo-speak” U.S. officials usually offer on trips abroad.

Newly minted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton showed last week that she will not be constrained by diplomatic protocol or follow an official script and, so far, she seems to have the stature and celebrity to pull it off.

As she returns home Sunday from her first overseas trip since taking office, Mrs. Clinton leaves behind thousands of Asians thrilled to have met one of the world’s most famous and powerful women.

At the same time, awaiting her in Washington are puzzled analysts, angry human rights activists and career diplomats not quite sure what to make of some of her comments.

On her way to Seoul on Thursday, for example, Mrs. Clinton spoke candidly and extensively about a possible power struggle in North Korea. She was broaching an issue that has occupied intelligence officials and diplomats ever since the country’s dictator, Kim Jong-il, was reported to have suffered a stroke last summer.

Her remarks immediately made headlines, mainly because the subject is rarely discussed publicly by senior officials. But she told reporters a day later that she could not understand what the fuss was about since she was simply stating the obvious. She did not appear to be concerned about angering the North or irritating its close ally, China.

“I don’t think that it’s a forbidden subject to talk about succession in the Hermit Kingdom,” she said. “In fact, it seems to me it’s got to be factored into any policy review that one is undertaking.”

Just before going to Beijing on Friday, Mrs. Clinton infuriated human rights advocates by saying she would not let thorny issues such as human rights and Tibet prevent the United States and China from making progress on climate change, security and economic matters.

Even though previous administrations did not admit it publicly, in practice they adopted a similar approach.

“Maybe this is unusual, because you are supposed to be so careful that you spend hours avoiding stating the obvious, but you know, that’s just not productive, in my view,” the secretary told reporters traveling with her.

“It’s worth being perhaps more straightforward and trying to engage other countries on the basis of the reality that exists in a number of these settings,” she said. “That’s how I see it, and that’s how I intend to operate.”

Analysts and other observers said such remarks are refreshing and note that Mrs. Clinton, as a former senator, may be impatient with diplomatic talking points. But they wonder how long she can continue without worrying about the consequences of her words.

“Clinton’s comments most likely suggest a more open approach to U.S. diplomacy than occurred with the previous administration, where secrecy reigned supreme,” said Patricia Kushlis, a retired career diplomat who writes a foreign-affairs blog called “Whirled View.” “What difference, if any, a more open approach will make in terms of outcomes is premature to say.”

Mrs. Clinton’s approach of speaking her mind, rather than following a script, could present a challenge for the State Department bureaucracy, where every public statement must be cleared by several offices, and where even a minor policy change can take months to become official.

Her two immediate predecessors, Condoleezza Rice and Colin L. Powell, for the most part stuck to the script that had been prepared by the bureaucracy under their direction. Ms. Rice was particularly disciplined, officials said, which was always welcomed by her aides.

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