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WASHINGTON: One week in office, US President Joe Biden sent a clear warning to Beijing against any expansionist intentions in East and Southeast Asia.
In multiple calls and statements, he and his top security officials have underscored support for allies Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, signaling Washington’s rejection of China’s disputed territorial claims in those areas.
On Wednesday (January 27), Biden told Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga that his administration is committed to defending Japan, including the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by both Japan and China, which calls them the islands. Diaoyu.
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That stance was shared by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who told his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi on Saturday that the disputed islands were covered by the US-Japan Security Treaty.
Austin said the United States “continues to oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea,” according to a Pentagon statement on the call.
In his first overseas contacts after taking office, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (pictured on January 22, 2021) included not only Japan, but also his counterparts in Australia, Korea. South and India AFP / Brendan SMIALOWSKI
Meanwhile, three days after the Biden administration, State Department spokesman Ned Price warned China of the threat from Taiwan after it repeatedly sent more than a dozen military fighters and bombers through the area. air defense of the island.
“We will stand with friends and allies to promote our security and shared values of prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, and that includes deepening our ties with democratic Taiwan,” Price said in a statement.
“Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid.”
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Those comments and others sought to emphasize that the new Biden administration will not deviate from the strong security stance toward China that it inherited from former President Donald Trump.
“A FREE AND OPEN INDOPACIFIC”
Washington has long sided with allies such as South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in rejecting disputed Chinese territorial claims in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
But the Trump administration raised the tone of that rejection when then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared last July that most of Beijing’s maritime claims in the South China Sea were “completely illegal.”
In his first overseas contacts after taking office, Austin included not only Japan, but also his counterparts in Australia, South Korea, and India.
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Over the past three years, Washington has expanded defense cooperation with India, which views China as a military threat both on its northern border and in the southern seas.
In a call with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, Austin noted that the defense partnership of the two countries “is based on shared values and a common interest in ensuring that the Indo-Pacific region remains free and open.” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
A similar chorus led by China was echoed in Austin’s call with Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds on Tuesday.
Austin “emphasized the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, based on existing international law and norms in a region free from evil behavior,” Kirby said.
To underscore America’s unaltered stance in Asia, on January 24, the fourth day of the new Biden administration, the American aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt embarked on a mission called “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea, sailing in or near waters that China claims to underscore Washington’s rejection of those claims.
Additionally, while his initial focus for the US Department of Defense is to combat the coronavirus, Austin is expected to make Asia his first destination on an international trip.
