The Americans are coming! The Americans are coming!

Well, just one American, actually. But she happens to be a pretty important one.

Hillary Rodham Clinton started her whirlwind tour today. She heads to China later this week.

The East Asian exravaganza, Clinton's first as U.S. Secretary of State, is also the Obama administation's first chance to prove its foreign policies and methods of engagement are a demonstrable improvement from those of the previous American government.

Clinton indicated as much in Tokyo today:

“America is ready to listen again. Too often in the recent past, our government has not heard the different perspectives of people around the world. In the Obama administration, we intend to change that.”

That's no doubt something a lot of people in this region are glad to hear.

Chinese people I've spoken with still seem unsure how they feel about the new U.S. administration. Sure, Obama's a pretty inspiring guy, one friend told me. But she remains unconvinced he--or any Americans, for that matter--are anything but ignorant of China, eager to criticize the country for nitpicky misdemeanours but slow to praise this newcomer to the superpower stage for things it does right.

There's also the fear Obama & Co. will pressure China on fronts on which the Bush administration was mercifully (in their view) silent--on climate change and human rights, particularly. And the "Buy American" clause is as frightening for Chinese companies and factories as it is for Canadians and Europeans who've been vocally calling foul.

Although it obviously doesn't rival the superstar U.S. president's seven hours spent in Jianada's chilly capital, this visit and its results should at the very least be interesting.