US prez arrives in Japan to reaffirm bilateral ties, to discuss expansion of military capabilities
President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Sunday to launch a plan for greater U.S. economic engagement with the Indo-Pacific, facing criticism even before the programme is announced that it will offer scant benefit to countries in the region.
On the second leg of his first Asia trip as president, Biden is to meet with leaders of Japan, India and Australia, the Quad, another cornerstone of his strategy to push back against China’s expanding influence.
On Monday, he and Kishida are expected to discuss Japan’s plans to expand its military capabilities and reach in response to China’s growing might.
IPEF roll-out
Biden on Monday plans to roll out the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a programme to bind regional countries more closely
through common standards in areas including supply-chain resilience, clean energy, infrastructure and digital trade.
Washington has lacked an economic pillar to its Indo-Pacific engagement since former President Donald Trump quit a multinational trans-Pacific trade agreement, leaving the field open to China to expand its influence. But the IPEF is
unlikely to include binding commitments, and Asian countries and trade experts have given a decidedly lukewarm response to a programme limited by Biden’s reluctance to risk American jobs by offering the increased market access the region craves.
The White House had wanted it the IPEF announcement to represent a formal start of negotiations with a core group of like-minded countries, but Japan wanted to ensure broader participation to include as many Southeast Asian countries as possible, trade and diplomatic sources said.
Given this, Monday’s ceremony will likely signal an agreement to start discussions on IPEF rather than actual negotiations, the sources said.
Beijing appeared to take a dim view of the planned IPEF.
China welcomes initiatives conducive to strengthening regional cooperation but “opposes attempts to create division and confrontation””, foreign minister Wang Yi said in
a statement. “The Asia-Pacific should become a high ground for peaceful development, not a geopolitical gladiatorial arena.”
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One that Taiwan would not be a part of the IPEF launch but that Washington is looking to deepen its economic relationship with the self-governing island.