NK threat looms over US envoy’s Asia debut
Tillerson to engage regional leaders
TOKYO: On his first trip to Asia as top US diplomat, Rex Tillerson wants to forge cooperation with Japan, South Korea and China against the nuclear threat from North Korea and demonstrate “America First” does not mean a US diplomatic retreat from the volatile region.
Mr Tillerson will find shared anxiety at the North’s sabre-rattling but less agreement about how to deal with it, and unresolved questions about how the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, can manage growing differences.
Japan and South Korea, which host American troops and are already within range of North Korean missiles, support US efforts to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on Pyongyang. The three navies were also conducting missile defence information-sharing drills yesterday in seas east of the divided Korean Peninsula and north of Japan to promote interoperability, the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said. But China remains conflicted about how to treat its traditional ally for fear of triggering its collapse.
Adding to the combustible mix of military tension and the region’s historic rivalries is another factor — uncertainty about US foreign policy under the Trump administration.
Mr Tillerson, who arrived in Tokyo last night at the start of his four-day, threenation tour, could provide some reassurance to nervy allies. He will meet today with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
The former Exxon Mobil CEO has adopted a low profile during his six weeks as secretary of state. The State Department Correspondents’ Association expressed disappointment yesterday that Mr Tillerson was travelling without a contingent of diplomatic press corps or even a pool reporter on his plane — although it is taking a reporter from the conservative website,
the Independent Journal Review.
US President Donald Trump’s rise to power has raised anxiety in Asian capitals. During last year’s election campaign, Mr Trump asked whether allies like Japan and South Korea contribute enough for their own defence or should get their own nuclear weapons. He also questioned the fundamentals of four decades of US diplomacy with China.
Mr Trump has allayed some of those concerns since taking office. He hosted Mr Abe last month, and when Mr Tillerson goes to Beijing on Saturday, he is expected to arrange a much-anticipated visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US.
“The US allies, Japan and South Korea, want to know that the United States is going to continue to defend them but also is going to show a certain amount of finesse and diplomatic skills in dealing with China and with North Korea,” said Robert Dujarric, the director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo.
North Korea will be a priority on all Mr Tillerson’s stops. The State Department says he wants to discuss “fresh” approaches. Administration officials say all options are on the table, including military ones, but signs are the US for starters wants to see rigorous implementation of existing sanctions against Pyongyang.
There appears to be little desire for now to negotiate with North Korea, unless it commits to denuclearisation, which it shows no sign of doing.
After Tokyo, Mr Tillerson visits South Korea. Ousted leader Park Geun-hye had been in lockstep with Washington’s efforts to isolate Pyongyang. The favourite to succeed her is Moon Jae-in, a moderate who wants to engage North Korea’s government.
Mr Tillerson’s final leg involves meetings with senior Chinese officials in Beijing. China recently announced it was suspending North Korean coal exports for the rest of the year. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang yesterday called for all parties to return to talks. Last week China’s foreign minister warned the US, South Korea and North Korea could be heading for conflict.