Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday in Hong Kong that the United States has never lost its interest and been "very engaged" and "well-positioned" in Asia.

Delivering a speech at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Rice said the United States is very engaged in Southeast Asia, citing its deep relationship with the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

In addition, she said "In Asia as a whole, the United States has been very well positioned," adding that the power has strong ties with countries like India and good ties with South Korea, Japan, China and Southeast Asian countries.

She also said "it will not be good for the Asia and Pacific region if there are institutions of Asia that excludes the United States."

Rice said China has played a growing role in some regional and international issues.

On nuclear issue on Korean Peninsula, while noting the importance of the six-party talks, Rice said "it's China that was in the lead. The Chinese are always willing to work hard to bring North Korea (DPRK) to the table and plays a responsible role in those talks."

Rice served as the national security adviser and later as Secretary of State for the Bush administration. Being out of office over a year, she is now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution public policy research group at Stanford University.

She is en route to south China's Hainan province for an annual series of conferences which will start late this month. Players of the world's tourism industry are gathering at the 2010 Boao International Tourism Forum to discuss measures related to the industry's recovery from global financial crisis.