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TOKYO – President Biden opened the second chapter of his tour of Asia on Monday with movements – some choreographed, others perhaps not – signaling a more confrontational approach to China on multiple fronts as his administration seeks to limit its influence. the world’s most populous nation.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, Biden said the United States would defend Taiwan militarily if attacked by China – despite US policy remaining unclear – and that deterring Beijing was one of the reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin was punished for his ” barbarism in Ukraine ”. His administration later announced the outline of a new trade framework aimed at strengthening US economic ties with other nations in the Indo-Pacific region.
Biden on Tuesday will also take part in a meeting of Quad, a partnership made up of the United States, India, Japan and Australia, which aims in part to counter China’s global power.
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Regarding Taiwan, a White House official said Biden simply reiterated the promise made in a 1979 law calling on the United States to provide Taiwan with military means of self-defense. The United States maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity toward the island, which means it is deliberately unclear what it would do when it comes to protecting Taiwan. Both the official – who spoke on condition of anonymity to clarify Biden’s comments – and the president said the US position had not changed.
But taken together, Monday’s rhetoric and side events highlighted the Biden administration’s aggressive strategy to blunt China’s growing influence – as the president drew parallels between a potential China-Taiwan conflict and the war sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia has to pay a long-term price for this in terms of the sanctions that have been imposed,” Biden said during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at Akasaka Palace. “If, in fact, there is rapprochement between … Ukrainians and Russia and these sanctions do not continue to be maintained in many ways, then what signal is this sending to China at the cost of an experience – an attempt – to take Taiwan by force?” ”
Although the president said he did not expect such an invasion, Biden said China was “already flirting with danger” and that despite the United States’ “one China” policy, “this does not mean that China has” jurisdiction “to enter and use force to conquer Taiwan. “
“The idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, just isn’t – it’s just not appropriate,” Biden said. “This will displace the whole region and will be another action, similar to what happened in Ukraine.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokesman Joan Ou said her agency “sincerely welcomed” Biden’s comments, but Chinese ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed his government’s “strong discontent and strong opposition” to them. Beijing claims that Taiwan is an integral part of its territory.
“No one should underestimate the strong determination, strong will and great abilities of the Chinese people,” Wang told a regular press briefing, according to the state-run Global Times.
At Monday’s summit, Biden and Kishida also reaffirmed their commitment to the alliance and co-operation in response to the Russian war.
Japan has stepped up its foreign policy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sparking deep concern that has sparked Japan’s ongoing debate on defense and security policies amid a growing territorial threat from China.
Japan is determined to show that it can work with its Group of Seven counterparts to oppose force, fearing a lack of a strong response risks fostering China’s growing confidence and deteriorating China-Taiwan relations. . Japan is now moving to increase its defense budget, which is a sensitive issue due to the country’s militaristic past.
The world’s third-largest economy, Japan has taken unusually fast steps to join Western allies in putting financial pressure on Russia and helping Ukraine. Last week, Tokyo pledged an additional $ 300 million in short-term support to Ukraine, in addition to the more than $ 200 million it had already pledged. Japan has accepted more than 1,000 people fleeing Ukraine, an eye-catching figure for a country that has historically been unfriendly to refugees.
Kishida, who was elected prime minister in the fall, received high marks at home for his decisions – 71.2% of the public supported his response to the Russian invasion, according to a study published Sunday by Kyodo News, a Japanese newspaper.
Part of the US-Japan response to China’s rise is the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the outline of a new agreement designed to support China. The administration says it amplifies the political and significant shortcomings of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreed during the Obama administration when Biden was vice president.
The dozen countries in the new pact with the United States are Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Countries account for 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the administration.
“In any case, this is the most significant international economic participation the United States has ever had in the region,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
The intended audience of the announcement was clear, although Biden did not specifically mention China during Monday’s launch. Representatives of the other 12 nations were also careful not to single out the country in their own remarks.
Administration officials cited economic data showing that the US economy has grown faster than China’s for the first time in four decades, proving that a partnership with the United States would be a more attractive option for other Indo-Pacific countries.
“In our opinion, this is not a zero-sum game with China,” said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. “It’s not about forcing states to choose. But it is a matter of offering a value proposition that we believe the parties take very seriously. “
But many officials across Asia, including Japan, are wary of introducing the new US economic proposal. Japanese officials said they were relieved to see the United States recover economically in the Indo-Pacific region, but were disappointed with President Donald Trump’s 2017 withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Although it was Trump who formally withdrew the United States from the agreement, it also had no support from either side of Capitol Hill and would not be ratified. It is unclear whether Congress will have to give the green light to any agreements created through this new trade framework.
Standing next to Biden during Monday’s press conference at Akasaka Palace, Kishida has repeatedly stressed Japan’s desire for the United States to rejoin the TPP. Meanwhile, many countries in the Asia-Pacific region are already participating in a free trade agreement involving China called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
The framework, published by the White House and a dozen other countries on Monday, does not include specific commitments or requirements on what each nation must do to reap the benefits of the pact.
The administration also faces questions about why Taiwan is excluded from the original list of participating countries. Last week, a bipartisan majority of 52 senators wrote to Biden, urging him to ensure that the self-governing island and US trading partner are part of the new framework, and said it was an economic and military imperative.
Excluding Taiwan “will significantly distort the regional and global economic architecture, run counter to US economic interests and allow the Chinese government to argue that the international community does not actually support meaningful engagement with Taiwan,” the two leaders said in a letter. of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Sullivan said the administration would pursue “deeper” bilateral trade relations with Taiwan instead of including it in Tuesday’s framework because it “puts us in the best position to improve our economic partnership with Taiwan and also so let’s continue IPEF with this diverse range of countries. “
To fully involve Southeast Asian countries or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States needs to provide more details on its vision, said Fukunari Kimura, a professor of economics at Keio University in Tokyo and chief economist at the Economic Research Institute. ASEAN and East Asia.
Market access – lowering the barrier to trade with the United States – was an important incentive to persuade Southeast Asian countries to join the TPP.
“Together with unanimous countries, the United States must clearly identify the elements that IPEF will cover,” Kimura said. “In order to make IPEF fly, it must ensure the participation of ASEAN. Otherwise, this would be an insignificant continuation of a security gathering with a limited number of countries in the region. … IPEF should provide a good alternative incentive for them if market access cannot be included. ASEAN’s economy is still growing with international production networks. “
Senator Bill Hagarty (R-Tenn.), The US ambassador to Japan under the Trump administration, also noted the lack of provisions in the new trade framework to increase market access, although allies in the region “can’t wait to see more US economic leadership.” “
On Tuesday, Biden’s last day of his trip to Asia, he has to spend much of …
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