China takes swipe at Biden’s Asia strategy
China’s foreign minister said American diplomatic strategy in Asia was doomed to fail, as US President Joe Biden underlined Washington’s commitment to the region during a visit to South Korea and Japan.
Mr Biden’s first trip to Asia as President has been touted as a display of US determination to maintain its commercial and military edge across the region, and comes as rival China is experiencing economic disruption due to strict lockdowns intended to contain Covid outbreaks.
America’s “so-called ‘IndoPacific Strategy’ is, in essence, a strategy of creating division, inciting confrontation and undermining peace”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, according to state media.
“No matter how it is packaged or disguised, it will inevitably fail,” he added.
On Tuesday, Mr Biden aims to reinforce American leadership in the region by joining the leaders of Australia, India and Japan for a summit of the Quad group.
Mr Wang, however, said the US was aiming “to form small cliques in the name of freedom and openness”, while hoping “to contain China”.
Washington and Beijing are at odds over China’s activity in the East and South
China Sea, its claims on Taiwan, and human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang region, among other issues.
Mr Biden is emphasising a broader angle during his trip, saying that Asia is a key battleground in the global “competition between democracies and autocracies”.
There is concern North Korea will test a nuclear-capable missile as a show of force while he is in the region.