Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to China Tuesday as U.S. officials raced to find a solution to a sensitive row over a top dissident reportedly holed up at the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had long planned to go to Beijing for the annual meeting between the world's two largest economies that now is likely to be overshadowed by the case of blind activist Chen Guangcheng.

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton telephoned on Monday President Michel Suleiman to praise his speech at the Arab League summit that was held in Baghdad in late March.

She lauded his call to implement democracy in political practice and expressed her country’s support to such an end.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be "mistaken" if he thinks he can defeat the opposition against him.

"If Assad continues as he has to fail to end the violence, ... then it is unlikely he is going to ever agree" to implement the peace plan he agreed to with U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, Clinton told a press conference.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that fighting on Sudan's border with South Sudan was "deeply distressing" and that Khartoum bore the brunt of the blame for the violence.

"The weight of responsibility rests with Khartoum," Clinton told reporters, citing aerial bombing runs by the Sudanese government as "evidence of disproportionate force."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will late this week launch a new diplomatic drive aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria, making visits to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, officials said Monday.

Clinton will meet in Riyadh with Saudi King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as well as foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia's five Gulf Arab neighbors, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the green light Friday to resume $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Egypt despite fears it is slipping in its avowed transition to democracy.

The move marked the denouement of a crisis in the 30-year-old U.S.-Egyptian alliance that erupted over a crackdown in December on pro-democracy groups by Egypt's interim military rulers.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday praised the U.N. statement on Syria and warned President Bashar al-Assad to carry out the peace plan or face "increasing pressure."

Clinton said that the long-divided U.N. Security Council has taken "a positive step" after it adopted a statement demanding that Syria immediately implement a peace plan proposed by former secretary general Kofi Annan.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday vowed to press ahead with support for democracy promotion groups, saying that they play a critical role despite a crackdown in Egypt.

Clinton, addressing U.S. ambassadors from around the world who are back in Washington for a group conference, said that civil society groups are vital to encouraging U.S. goals such as advancing democracy and women's participation.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called on China to show in "concrete ways" that its rise is in the world's interest, saying that Beijing needs to take greater responsibility.

In a wide-ranging speech on relations between the Pacific powers, Clinton renewed U.S. calls on China to protect the rights of foreign businesses, adjust the "unfair" value of its currency and improve its human rights record.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday an argument could be made for declaring President Bashar al-Assad a war criminal, but said such action could complicate a solution in Syria.

"Based on definitions of war criminal and crimes against humanity, there would be an argument to be made that he would fit into that category," Clinton told a Senate hearing on the State Department budget.