海角大神

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in聽's newest nation of聽聽on Thursday, hoping to bolster the fledgling government that is trying to bring the impoverished country closer in step with its booming neighbors in聽.

Clinton arrived in the capital Dili after a day of talks in聽聽and was due to meet President聽聽and Prime Minister聽聽during a brief visit before heading on to聽.

US officials said the visit by Clinton - the first US secretary of state to travel to聽聽since it won independence from聽聽in 2002 - was an effort to buttress both stability and growth in one of聽's poorest countries.

"聽is still plagued with substantial violence ... they have a long way to go," one senior US officials told reporters on Clinton's plane.

Clinton is not bringing much in the way of new financial assistance and is set to announce just $6.5 million in funding for scholarships to help East Timorese students study in the聽.

But US officials hope her visit will send a signal to聽's neighbors, some of which have strongly resisted suggestions that it be brought into the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) because it lags too far behind the rest of the region in both political and economic development.

Gusmao won parliamentary elections in April but fell short of a majority, forcing the formation of a coalition government.

US officials say聽聽is hobbled by a number of weaknesses following more than 400 years of Portuguese colonization and a 24-year battle against Indonesian occupation, and that closer ties with ASEAN would bring stability.

Isolated by their Portuguese language in a region where English is increasingly common and lacking much basic infrastructure, the country nevertheless began receiving oil and gas revenues from fields it shares with聽聽in 2005 and now boasts a special petroleum fund with assets exceeding $10 billion.

聽LOOMS LARGE

During her trip, Clinton will also take stock of growing Chinese aid and investment in the country, part of聽's rapid push to accelerate its influence in the region.

聽has built a number of major government buildings in聽. It has also signaled, however, that it is willing to partner with the聽聽in development projects aimed at assisting the country's people, some 40 percent of whom live on less than dollar a day and battle extremely high unemployment rates.

US officials said Washington hoped to step up cooperative development work with聽, citing聽聽as one region in聽聽where the two Pacific powers' interests could converge.

"The Chinese don't view the stakes as particularly high," the official said, although he noted that even in cooperative ventures,聽聽shields much of the details of its development work.

"They put a lot of money into聽, but we don't have that much visibility" into what they do, the official said.

听颈苍惫补诲别诲听, a former Portuguese colony occupying half an island at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago, in 1975.

It spent decades trying to crush opposition to its rule before the territory won independence following a U.N.-sponsored referendum. A U.N. mission promoting stability remains to this day.

聽has enjoyed stability and peace for the past five years, following a factional conflict in 2006 and attempts to assassinate then-president聽聽and Gusmao in 2008.

罢丑别听, which mounted a major stabilization force in the country following independence, has said its mission will end in December.

Editing by Philip Barbara.