Biden reassures US allies in calls with leaders of Japan, S. Korea, Australia

seoul — In their first calls with Joe Biden since the US election, the leaders of Japan, South Korea and Australia on Thursday reaffirmed plans to form close ties with the president-elect to tackle issues including climate change and regional security.

The three key Asian allies — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison — join other global leaders in recognising the Democratic challenger’s victory over incumbent Trump, who has so far refused to concede.

Biden’s projected win comes against a backdrop of China’s growing military and economic assertiveness in the region, and after years of sometimes tumultuous relations between Asian allies and the United States under Trump over issues including trade, defence and the environment.

All sides expressed their determination to strengthen bilateral ties as well as tackle global issues such as the virus pandemic and climate change, Biden’s office said. Japan’s Suga said he spoke with Biden by telephone and confirmed the importance of bilateral ties.

“President-elect Biden said that he looks forward to strengthening the US-Japan alliance and working together on achieving a free and open IndoPacific,” Suga said to reporters, in separate comments made at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Biden had earlier spoken to the leaders of Germany, the UK, Canada and France, but China and Russia have so far held off passing on their congratulations and speaking with the President-elect.

Biden on Wednesday named Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff, his first major appointment as he builds his administration. Anthony Blinken, a diplomat and longtime confidant of Biden is seen as a likely pick for Secretary of State or National Security Adviser, both key roles for Asian allies.

Speaking to South Korea’s Moon, Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to defend South Korea, highlighting the Asian ally as a “lynchpin of the security and prosperity of the IndoPacific region,” Moon’s spokesman Kang Min-seok said.

“President Moon asked for close cooperation for the forwardlooking development of the bilateral alliance, and the denuclearisation and peace on the Korean peninsula,” Kang said. —