U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken and Secretary of Defense John Austin visited Japan and South Korea for four days in a row to participate in the “Japan-U.S. Security Agreement Commission,” or “2+2” talks held by the U.S. and Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers and defense ministers. This was the first visit by top officials since the Biden administration took office. The meeting focused on China’s military expansion, the U.S. and Japan to maintain peace in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and the North Korean nuclear issue was also the focus of the talks. Scholars analyze that Biden aims to prevent military conflicts in Northeast Asia, and for Japan, Tokyo hopes to regain regional dominance by strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance again. (By Chen Junhao)
Blinken and Austin flew to Japan on Monday night (15) and then met with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimichi Mogi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi on Tuesday (16). The Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) quoted the document after the meeting between the two officials, said the U.S. and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and both countries showed their adherence to a “rules-based” international order.
The document also mentions that China’s current actions are not consistent with the existing international order and that Beijing is posing political, economic, military and technological challenges to the U.S.-Japan alliance and the world. It mentions that “the United States and Japan oppose any actions that undermine regional stability.” The U.S. and Japan spoke about China’s human rights situation, its military expansion in the East and South China Seas and Beijing’s recent implementation of a “maritime police law.
At the beginning of the meeting, Blinken reiterated to Toshichika Mogi the consensus between the two countries. He said, “The U.S.-Japan relationship is the cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity, not just for the two countries, but for the world.” He added that it was “no surprise” that the Biden Administration chose to talk to Japan first. Blinken also said that he and Austin visited Japan for the simple but important purpose of reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance and strengthening the relationship between the two sides.
China’s military expansion in East China Sea, South China Sea, U.S. threatens to counterattack
In his opening remarks, Blinken went on to name China, saying that “there are many places in the world like Burma and China where democracy, human rights and the rule of law are under threat.” Touching on the subject of China, Toshiaki Mogi responded to Japan’s study of China in the East China Sea, arguing that “Japan and China can be said to have become hostile (adversarial) on the East China Sea issue.” The company said that Tokyo should work closely with Washington and respond firmly when needed.
China’s “territorial claims” in the East China Sea and South China Sea is a consensus to be reached before the U.S.-Japan alliance develops further. The U.S. and Japan expressed serious concern about China’s Maritime Police Act, which will be implemented in January 2021, describing it as a “stifling of international cooperation. China’s Maritime Police Law states that Chinese maritime police vessels have the right to fire on foreign vessels when China’s “rights” are “violated by foreign organizations and individuals at sea, or when they are in imminent danger of being violated. Chinese maritime police vessels have repeatedly “chased away” foreign fishing boats in disputed territorial waters, occasionally causing them to sink. What is coveted by Japan and China are the rich fish catches and oil and gas resources near uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Beijing has made frequent moves in recent years in the waters of the East China Sea, near the disputed Diaoyu Islands (known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan), and in 2020 alone, China has sent official ships to cruise around the islands for 333 days.
Blinken responded, “If China uses coercion and encroachment to achieve its goals, the United States will fight back.” Blinken also expressed firm support for Japan’s rights and interests in the East China Sea islands and opposed China’s “illegal” territorial claims in the South China Sea. Toshichika Mogi also stressed that “the China issue is the focus of this bilateral meeting, and Japan strongly opposes China’s unilateral attempts to change the balance of power in the East and South China Seas.”
On the South China Sea, the U.S. and Japan oppose China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea and its push to militarize the South China Sea. The two countries said the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration arbitration results have been the final judgment, denying China’s so-called “sovereignty claims” and opposing China’s illegal maritime rights and interests, as well as related claims and activities.
NHK reported that the “2+2” talks were preceded by a one-hour and 30-minute bilateral meeting between Austin and Nobuo Kishi at the Defense Ministry, where Tokyo will promote joint training between The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military.
Another focus of the meeting was the North Korean nuclear issue. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has refused to communicate with the White House for many days after taking office in Baiden. North Korea’s official media KCNA reported that Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Wo-jung made her first statement to the Biden administration on Tuesday (16), saying that the United States “better not create trouble at the beginning (cause a stink) if it wants to sleep peacefully in the next four years.” North Korea, as a nuclear power, may threaten regional security by force. Blinken said, will work closely with Japan and allies to promote the “denuclearization of North Korea”.
Li Kexian: U.S. concerned about “maritime police law” rubbish
Tokyo International University International Institute of Strategic Studies Associate Professor Li Kexian analysis of our interview, the Biden administration’s top diplomatic choice of Japan and South Korea as the first visit to the countries, mainly Biden in the global situation, the first priority to consolidate the U.S.-Japanese alliance to avoid conflict between China, Japan and South Korea in Northeast Asia, as well as trying to solve the North Korean nuclear issue.
Li Kexian said: Northeast Asia has two issues that need to be addressed from the perspective of the Biden administration. The first issue to be addressed is the implementation of China’s Maritime Police Act in early 2021, whether the Maritime Police Act will cause Japan and China to have a gunfight, the role of the United States, the United States and Japan need to watch. The second issue to deal with is the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Biden in the election will discuss the nuclear issue with North Korea Kim Jong-un, unless Kim Jong-un is willing to withdraw or no longer develop nuclear weapons, but there are reports that since February 2021, the United States from different diplomatic channels, seems to be unable to contact North Korea, it seems that the situation in Northeast Asia, China and North Korea has an important place in the heart of Biden, need to deal with immediately.
The U.S. met with Chinese representatives before frequent joint India-Pacific-Japan-South Korea Li Kexian: warning Beijing
Biden last week participated in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) video conference, the dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India’s heads of state, talking about issues such as combating climate change and vaccine production, and this week immediately met with the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and South Korea, which is a warning to China.
Li Kexian said: before the United States to participate in the Quad meeting, now non-stop visit to Japan and South Korea, first of all, the United States attaches importance to traditional allies including Japan and South Korea; the second message is to China, the United States is concerned about China’s military expansion in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, to let China know that Japan and South Korea have the United States behind the support, two days later (18) the U.S. Secretary of State and the White House national security adviser to meet with Chinese representatives, will reiterate this point. Warnings about China’s foreign policy will unite the United States and its allies in the region.
For Japan, Li Kexian added that in addition to strengthening its own military strength to meet the challenges, Japan also needs to seek foreign assistance, relatively little assistance to Japan under former President Trump, and now that Biden is in charge, Japan hopes to win the support of the United States and the countries of the Indo-Pacific region, and Japanese Prime Minister Kan will fly to Washington in April for talks with Biden. Li Kexian believes that Japan hopes to regain dominance in the current international landscape.
In the past year or two, the dominant power was in China, not in Japan nor in the United States, because the Trump era paid little attention to the U.S.-Japan-China relationship, said Lee. Now that Biden is in power, Japan hopes to gain the lead, so that the regional order, conflict, Japan can have “the right to speak”, because there is the United States behind the support.
Li Kexian believes that the traditional cooperation between the U.S. and Japan to strengthen again, for Japan, can embody new policies, whether it is the issue of North Korea, Japan has investment in Myanmar, and even Hong Kong, there can be a new mode of coordination.
The meeting also touched on vaccine production and distribution, semiconductor supply chain issues, the junta coup in Burma, and Hong Kong and Xinjiang issues.
Blinken and Austin will move to Seoul for a visit Wednesday (17) through Thursday (18) and fly to Anchorage, Alaska, after leaving South Korea on Thursday, where White House National Security Adviser Sullivan will meet with Blinken, with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, and with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in what will be the first high-level meeting between Biden This will be the first high-level meeting between the U.S. and China since Biden took office.
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