Top US officials in Asia to boost alliances as bulwark against Beijing
Visit to Japan, S. Korea, India aimed at presenting united front on challenges posed by China
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arriving in Tokyo yesterday at the start of a four-day visit to Asia, highlighting Washington's renewed focus on alliances in the region. He was joined by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, who travelled separately.
PHOTO: SECRETARY ANTONY BLINKEN / TWITTER
TOKYO • Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and top US diplomat Antony Blinken arrived in Japan yesterday, as they began their first overseas trip, looking to rally key Asian allies as a bulwark to China.
The pair, who travelled separately, will hold talks with their Japanese counterparts and with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
They will both continue on to South Korea, before Defence Secretary Austin heads separately to India and Secretary of State Blinken holds talks back in the United States with Chinese officials.
President Joe Biden's team has been deliberately slow to start the usually hectic pace of diplomatic travel that marks a new administration, hoping to set an example discouraging travel during the coronavirus pandemic.
But the administration has also made clear it wants to reset US ties with the rest of the world, particularly its traditional allies, after the tumult of the Donald Trump era.
In a joint opinion piece in the Washington Post yesterday, Mr Austin and Mr Blinken said they would look to "revitalise our ties with friends and partners".
The visit will also be about presenting a united front on the challenges posed by China.
"Our combined power makes us stronger when we must push back against China's aggression and threats," they wrote.
"Together, we will hold China accountable when it abuses human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, systematically erodes autonomy in Hong Kong, undercuts democracy in Taiwan or asserts maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law.
"If we don't act decisively and lead, Beijing will."
Speaking in Hawaii before heading to the region, Mr Austin said he and Mr Blinken would be "listening and learning", as well as looking to enhance American military capacity with allies to increase Washington's "competitive edge" over Beijing.
"Our goal is to make sure that we have the capabilities and the operational plans... to be able to offer a credible deterrence to China or anybody else who would want to take on the US."
A senior US defence official, speaking to reporters travelling with Mr Austin, said discussions with Japanese officials would include talks on "China's role in the region, China's behaviour in the region".
Beijing's increased presence in the waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands - administered by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyus - will also be on the table.
"That's an important part of the conversation because we have treaty commitments with Japan," the official said, referring to US defence obligations to Japan under a joint security treaty. "It's a sensitive part of the conversation that we'll have."
The pair arrive in Asia after an unprecedented summit of the leaders of the so-called Quad - an informal alliance of the US, Japan, India and Australia, seen as a counterbalance to China's increasing influence.
Mr Blinken's events in Tokyo and Seoul will be largely virtual, with addresses to Japanese business leaders and journalists by video conference, though his talks with officials will be in person.
In Seoul, he will consult on Mr Biden's review of policy towards Pyongyang in the wake of Mr Trump's summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Pentagon said Mr Austin will meet India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and seek a deepening partnership with Delhi, whose relations with Beijing have worsened following a deadly Himalayan clash last year.
Mr Blinken will return from Seoul to the US and join Mr Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan for talks in Anchorage with their Chinese counterparts.
Mr Blinken said last week he expected to "lay out in very frank terms many concerns that we have with Beijing's actions and behaviour".
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE