US President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Sunday, the second and final stop of his first trip to Asia since taking office amid a threat from North Korea, China’s geopolitical ambitions and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Following a visit to South Korea, the other major US ally in the region, Mr. Biden arrived at US Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo, shortly after 5:00 pm local time (11:00 a.m. Greek time).
He is meeting today in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Emperor Naruhito. Tomorrow, Tuesday, he will attend the summit of the Quad, a diplomatic body in which, in addition to the United States, Japan, India and Australia are participating. Its purpose is to counterbalance China’s growing economic, military and technological power and influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Beijing is watching Washington’s moves with concern. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday that the United States was seeking to “create small cliques in the name of freedom and openness” with the real aim of “restricting China”.
“The so-called ‘Indo-Pacific (US) strategy is, in essence, a strategy to divide, to provoke conflict,’ to undermine ‘peace,'” Beijing’s foreign minister said in a statement. New China News Agency, adding that “no matter how it is presented or disguised, it is inevitably doomed to failure.”
The meeting of the quadripartite alliance will be attended by the new Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese, who was sworn in today. Mr Biden telephoned him on Sunday to congratulate him on his victory and assured him of Washington’s “unwavering commitment” to the “American-Australian alliance”.
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India – the only Quad country that has not officially condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine – announced yesterday that he will have a bilateral meeting with Mr. Biden.
The US president is expected to present in Japan a new US trade initiative, which is believed to be aimed at reducing and progressively ending dependence on Chinese supply chains.
Referring to North Korea, Biden said yesterday in Seoul that he was “prepared” for a possible nuclear test by Pyongyang, while assuring that he was ready to start a dialogue with it. Talks were virtually suspended in 2019, when the meeting of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) in Hanoi, Vietnam, failed.
Although no nuclear weapons test was carried out during Biden’s visit to South Korea, that scenario is unlikely to become a reality in the coming days, according to US Presidency National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“If North Korea acts, we are ready to react,” Sullivan told reporters. If it does not, there will be an opportunity, as we have already said, to return to the negotiating table. “
In Seoul, where he arrived on Friday, Biden had his first acquaintance with counterpart Eun Sok-gel, a pro-US conservative who came to power in early May. They agreed to intensify joint military training in the face of the North Korean threat.
Mr. Yoon referred to the development of “strategic means” by the United States to deal with a “nuclear weapons attack”. The means will include “aircraft and missiles,” he said, adding that the situation would soon be different from when “we did not have a deterrent umbrella” for a possible nuclear attack.
The possible development of such weapons, or the intensification of joint military exercises, is in danger of infuriating Pyongyang, which considers the exercises an invasion attempt.
A few days ago, South Korean intelligence services warned that North Korea had completed its preparations to proceed with a nuclear test. If it does, it will be the seventh in its history and the first in five years.
Rising uncertainty, North Korea, whose population has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, is facing a new coronavirus outbreak, with some 2.8 million cases and 68 deaths, according to Pyongyang today. Mr Biden’s offer to send vaccines to North Korea was not even met.
Mr Biden returned to a joint news conference with Mr Yoon on “global competition between democracies and authoritarian regimes” and described the Asia-Pacific region as an essential battleground.
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