New York  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday pledged to strengthen ties with Asia, offering North Korea normalized relations if it abandoned nuclear weapons and appealing to China for a more cooperative relationship.

During a speech at the Asia Society in New York Friday, two days before she leaves on a four-nation tour of Asia, Clinton said she would deliver a "message about America's desire for more rigorous and persistent commitment and engagement" in Asia.

The US was prepared to normalize relations and sign a peace treaty with North Korea if the Stalinist state abandoned its nuclear weapons programme, Clinton said. Washington would also provide economic and energy aid to North Korea as long as Pyongyang adhered to a 2006 disarmament agreement.

"If North Korea is genuinely prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons programme, the Obama administration will be willing to normalize bilateral relations, replace the peninsula's long-standing armistice agreements with a permanent peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and other economic needs of the North Korean people," Clinton said.

A peace treaty with North Korea would replace a 1953 armistice and formally end the Korean War.

Calling for a "positive relationship" between the US and China, Clinton announced that mid-level military talks were to resume later this month. The discussions had stalled since last year after the Bush administration decided to sell billions of dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan.

"Even with our differences, the United States will remain committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China, one that we believe is essential for America's future peace, progress and prosperity," Clinton said, before her trip to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China.

Clinton's first stop will be Tokyo, where she will sign the Guam International Agreement to move 8,000 US troops from Okinawa to Guam, a Pacific island that is a US territory. "Our security alliance with Japan, 50 years old next year, has been and must remain unshakable," Clinton said.

She also spoke of the widening economic crisis, which started in the US and has now spread throughout the world. "The global financial crisis requires every nation to look inward for solutions," Clinton said.

"But none of us can afford to become so introspective that we overlook the critical role that international partnerships must play in stabilizing the world's economy," she said, adding that countries must remain committed to a system of open and free trade.

While signalling the need for strong ties in Asia, Clinton said much of the region "enjoys peace and prosperity today ... in no small part to American efforts over the last half century to support political, economic, security and educational alliances with Asian nations."

She said her focus on Asia was built on the understanding that it was time for the US to engage with its Asian partners because "so much of our future would depend on the future energy and decisions of Asians."

Clinton said human rights should be expanded to create a world where opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be freed by the Myanmar military junta, North Koreans would be able to elect their leaders and Tibetans and Chinese would have religious freedom free from persecution. dpa