Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Sunday, the last leg of his first Asia tour since taking office, amid threats from North Korea, geopolitical ambitions from China and war in Ukraine.
After traveling to South Korea, another key US ally in the region, Mr Biden landed at US Yokota airbase, west of Tokyo, just after 5 p.m.
He is scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Emperor Naruhito in Tokyo on Monday. He will then take part in a Quad summit on Tuesday, a diplomatic format that brings together the leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia aimed at counterbalance China’s growing economic, military and technological influence in Asia- Pacific.
Washington seeks that form small groups
The reaction was strong late Sunday through the voice of its Foreign Minister Wang Yi, whom Washington is looking for. to form small groups in the name of freedom and openness hope contains china.
The so-called ¨Indo-Pacific Strategy¨ [américaine] is, in essence, a strategy to create division, provoke confrontation and undermine peacesaid the minister, quoted by the official New China agency. No matter how it is presented or rejected, it is doomed to fail..
Mr Biden called on Sunday to congratulate him on the winner of last day’s legislative election in Australia, Anthony Albanese, who reaffirmed to him. unwavering commitment of the United States to the US-Australia alliance. Mr. Albanese plans to participate in the Quad.
While India is the only Quad country that has not officially condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement on Sunday that he planned to have a bilateral exchange with Mr Biden.
Mr. Biden should also unveil to Japan a new American initiative for trade in the region, which is considered a means of eventual self-liberation from China’s supply chains.
Mr Biden declared himself in Seoul on Sunday prepare on a possible new North Korean nuclear test, while reaffirming its readiness to talk to Pyongyang. Talks have stalled since the failed summit in 2019 between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump.
The North Korean nuclear test ultimately did not take place during Mr. Biden’s stay in South Korea, but this situation remains a threat in the coming days, according to U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
” If North Korea acts, we will be ready to respond. If North Korea does not act, it has a chance, as we have already said, to return to the table. “
In Seoul, where he arrived on Friday, Mr. Biden met his counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol, a pro-American conservative who came to power in early May. The two Heads of State spoke of intensifying joint military exercises between their countries to counter the sound of sword by Kim Jong-un.
Mr. Yoon also referred to the deployment of the United States in his country strategic way to counter a nuclear attack. These methods should be included fighter planes and missiles, unlike in the past when the nuclear umbrella was the only thing we thought of for prevention.he pointed out.
Any deployment of this type of weapons, or any intensification of joint military training, threatens to anger Pyongyang, which treats these maneuvers as clothing rehearsals for an aggression.
South Korean intelligence services have warned that North Korea has already completed preparations to conduct a nuclear test, which will be the seventh in its history and the first in five years.
Adding to the uncertainty, North Korea, whose population has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, is currently facing an epidemic outbreak, with nearly 2.6 million cases and 67 deaths, according to the latest official number. Mr. Biden’s proposal to offer vaccines in Pyongyang remains a dead letter.
Mentioned by Mr. Biden, at a joint press conference with Mr. Yoon, a global competition between democracies and autocraciesand declared that the Asia-Pacific region is, in this context, a major battlefield.
We talked at length about the need to make sure of that [cette coopération] is not limited to the United States, Japan and Korea, but covers the entire Pacific, South Pacific and Indo-Pacific. I think [ce voyage] is a coincidencesaid Mr. Biden.
Source: Radio-Canada
