WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday she will travel to the Philippines next week to ''show solidarity'' with the storm-battered nation, just after her visits to Singapore and Berlin.

Clinton also announced she will join President Barack Obama during his visit to China from November 15-18, her second trip as chief diplomat to the country the Obama administration recognizes as a key global player.

In a flurry of travel announcements this week, Clinton and her aides announced her tour of Europe and Asia, one that comes on top of a tour of Pakistan and the Middle East that only ended on Wednesday.

''I'll be going to the Philippines, to show solidarity with our friends in the Philippines who have been battered by typhoons and have just suffered so much over the last weeks,'' Clinton said in a speech in Washington.

Typhoon Mirinae (“Santi” in the Philippines) swept over the main island Luzon Saturday, dumping heavy rain and bringing strong winds just weeks after Tropical Storm Ketsana (Ondoy) and Typhoon Parma (Pepeng) left about 1,100 dead and tens of thousands homeless.

During her visit to Manila from November 12-13, ''the secretary will hold consultations with senior Filipino officials, highlighting the US-Philippines treaty alliance,'' Clinton's spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
 
Her trip starts with a stop in Berlin for official ceremonies on Monday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. She was due to give a  speech in the German capital on Sunday at the Atlantic Council.

In a speech in Washington to many of those who supported her during her presidential campaign last year, Clinton said the wall's fall marked the end of a Cold War era in which the world was divided into clear blocs.

''So we find ourselves now in a much more complex world, and we just have to be up for it and we have to be smarter about it,'' Clinton said. ''And we have to demand more from ourselves and our partners.''

Clinton will then visit Singapore for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting ahead of the APEC summit, at which President Barack Obama will make his inaugural appearance.

She will be in Singapore from November 10-12, before returning a day later from the Philippines to join Obama at the summit, aides said.

Kurt Tong, the State Department's pointman on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), said this week that the various APEC meetings, including those attended by Clinton, will focus on economic recovery, following the massive global recession.

Clinton said in her speech that she will join Obama on a visit to China, which is scheduled from November 15-18, which she called a ''very important trip to further the dialogue between our two countries.''

China was a key stop on Clinton's first overseas tour as secretary of state, in what analysts said was a US bow to an increasingly powerful region in a bid to tackle the global economic crisis, climate change, and nuclear weapons.

Malacañang for its part said Saturday it is ready to welcome Clinton, calling her visit an affirmation of the close relations between the Philippines and the United States.

“We welcome the visit of Secretary Hillary Clinton in her capacity as the Secretary of State,” Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said on government-run radio station DZRB.

It will be Clinton’s second time to visit the country. The first was in 1996 during APEC Summit in Subic, Zambales, when the then First Lady accompanied her husband, President Bill Clinton.

The former US President was President Arroyo’s classmate at Georgetown University in Washington.

“Alam naman natin ang close relationship ni President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sa mga Clinton dahil former President Bill Clinton was a classmate of President Arroyo in Georgetown University. Former President Bill Clinton speaks very highly of President Arroyo,” Remonde said.

Arroyo and Clinton also met when the Philippine President visited US last February, 2009.

During their 30-minute talk at the State Department, they discussed issues that revolved around the Muslim insurgency in Minadanao and the effects of the global financial meltdown.

It can be recalled that, “in light of the special friendship” between the US and the Philippines, Clinton had gone out of her way to send a personalized video message to the Filipinos to commemorate this year’s Independence Day celebration.

According to Remonde, President Arroyo and Mrs. Clinton will discuss, among others, the 2010 presidential elections during the latter’s visit.

He said the President will cite the government’s efforts of pursuing an automated election in order to ensure fair and honest elections next year.

“Tayo’y tutulong para ma-ensure ang orderly and honest elections and of course, ganun din ang peaceful and orderly transition na hinahangad ng Presidente,” Remonde said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo also welcomed Clinton’s upcoming visit.

“This visit by Secretary Clinton is a good opportunity for the Philippine and US governments to have substantial discussions on bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest – disaster management, the Mindanao peace process, the Philippine efforts in climate change, and nuclear non-proliferation,” Romulo said.

DFA spokesman Ed Malaya said Clinton will also meet with the DFA Secretary aside from President Arroyo.

The US government has been active in its humanitarian efforts following the successive typhoons that hit the country in late September and October as well as in countering human trafficking in the Philippines.

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack earlier visited the Philippines on a four-day Trade and Investment Mission (TIM) in late October, when he stressed the US government’s commitment to further its strong ties with the Philippines in the area of agricultural trade.

Clinton cited that, in the United States, 4 million Americans of Filipino heritage serve in every sector – as doctors and business people, soldiers and journalists, public servants, stars of sports and film. More than 100,000 Americans live and work in the Philippines, “enjoying the beauty of your country and the hospitality of your people.”

“The United States is proud of the many ties that connect our nations. We are grateful for the leadership you have shown in Asia and around the globe, as peacekeepers and partners in security and prosperity. And we treasure the cultural and familial bonds that we share,” Clinton said in her personalized video message. (With reports from Madel Sabater and Roy Mabasa)