Biden, Suga to send signal to assertive China today
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden will highlight Tokyo’s central role in Washington’s strategy to counter the challenge of an increasingly assertive China at a summit today.
While that emphasis of Japan’s key status will be welcome in Tokyo, where some politicians are pushing for a tougher stance towards Beijing, it also raises questions about how far Tokyo can go to meet demands on regional defence and human rights.
“This will be the precursor to a series of meetings among like-minded countries to send the right signal to Beijing,” said Kunihiko Miyake, an adviser to Mr Suga.
Mr Suga took over as premier last September, inheriting a China policy that sought to balance security concerns with deep economic ties.
But striking that balance has become harder as China increases maritime activities including in the East and South China Seas and near Taiwan, which Beijing considers a wayward province.
Human rights concerns have deepened over mass detentions of Muslim Uighurs in the Xinjiang region. China denies abuses, but the United States has said Beijing is perpetrating a genocide.
Mr Suga will be the first foreign leader to meet Biden in person since the president took office, something that could give Mr Suga a boost ahead of a general election this year.
“Asking Suga to meet the president first means a lot — that China competition is critical and who is the best partner? Japan,” said Toshihiro Nakayama, a political science professor at Keio University.
The two are also expected to discuss climate change, supply chain resilience, a global semiconductor shortage and Covid-19.
Japan is grappling with rising coronavirus infections with less than 100 days from the planned start of the Tokyo Olympics.
In a statement after a March meeting of US-Japan defence and foreign ministers, the two sides “underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” and shared “serious concerns” about human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
The US, European Union, UK and Canada have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses and some Japanese lawmakers think Tokyo should do the same.