2 Cabinet heads visit Japan with China as topic
TOKYO — Shared concerns about China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region will take center stage when President Joe Biden’s defense chief and secretary of state visit Japan for their first in-person talks with their Japanese counterparts.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tokyo on Monday for meetings meant to reaffirm America’s commitment to the region and to the two nations’ alliance following former President Donald Trump’s more confrontational approach.
The two secretaries will hold so-called “two plus two” diplomatic and security talks today with their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi.
“The United States is now making a big push to revitalize our ties with friends and partners — both in one-to-one relationships and in multilateral institutions — and to recommit to our shared goals, values, and responsibilities,” Blinken and Austin said in a piece published Monday in The Washington Post.
The U.S. and others share the values and principles of keeping an open Indo-Pacific region, but China is “all too willing to use coercion to get its way,” the two ministers said. “Here again, we see how working with our allies is critical.”
The U.S. will lead with diplomacy, maintain America’s military might “and renew our alliances and ensure they’re fit for purpose to address the threats and opportunities of our time,” Blinken and Austin
wrote. Together they can hold China accountable for its human rights abuses and other problems in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan, they said.
Japan and the U.S. are also expected to reaffirm the importance of their three-way alliance with South Korea and may touch on the strained relations between Tokyo and Seoul over wartime compensation issues.
Motegi said in a parliamentary session Monday that he expected China to be the topic he and Blinken discussed most and that Japan being the first destination of their foreign travel signaled “the U.S. emphasis on the JapanU.S. alliance.”
Motegi said he hoped to “show the rest of the world an unshakable unity” in the alliance and hoped to discuss how Japan and the U.S., through their alliance, can step up their deterrence and response capability in answer to China.
“Japan, together with the U.S., will resolutely respond to China’s unilateral attempt to change the status quo,” Motegi said. “But at the same time, China is the world’s No. 2 economy and it is important to firmly encourage that country to act responsibly based on international rules.”
Japan is in a delicate diplomatic situation because its economy, like those of other countries in the region, heavily depends on China.