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TOKYO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday (March 17) that China was acting aggressively and repressively, citing its actions in the East and South Seas of China, where it has territorial disputes with Japan. and other Asian nations.
Speaking to a roundtable of Japanese journalists in Tokyo, Blinken said Beijing was “increasing tensions, not decreasing them” in the region with its maritime actions and its stance on Taiwan.
Blinken is visiting Japan and South Korea along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in an attempt to strengthen Washington’s alliances in Asia, on a first overseas trip for high-level members of President Joe Biden’s administration.
China’s extensive territorial claims in the East and South China Seas have become a priority issue in an increasingly irritable Sino-US relationship and are a major security concern for Japan.
Blinken said Beijing is “acting more repressively at home and more aggressively abroad, including in the East China Sea, including with respect to the Senkakus, as well as the South China Sea and also with respect to Taiwan.”
The Senkakus, also known as Diaoyu in China, are islets in the East China Sea controlled by Japan but claimed by China.
“Japan has a real interest in what happens regarding Taiwan and the Taiwan Straits and we spent some time comparing notes on that,” Blinken said in describing his conversations Tuesday with Japanese officials.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, accompanied by Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi on March 16, 2021 (Photo : AP / Eugene Hoshiko).
The comments echoed statements issued by Blinken, Austin and their Japanese counterparts after the “2 + 2” talks held in Tokyo on Tuesday and anticipated Blinken’s first in-person meetings with their Chinese counterparts scheduled for this week. In alaska.
“We look forward to the opportunity to put in very clear terms to our Chinese counterparts some of the concerns we have about the actions they are taking,” Blinken said.
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Separately, two US officials said that President Biden’s administration intends to show its firmness against Beijing in Alaska on Thursday, but does not expect immediate results.
Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will have “an initial discussion to understand … our interests, intentions and priorities” with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, said a Senior US official told the press on Tuesday.
“Sometimes there is a sense, potentially a perception, or maybe it is a hope in Beijing, that our public message is somehow different from our private message. And we think it’s really important that we dispel that idea very soon,” he said the official.
Thus, US diplomats will be as adamant in closed-door meetings as they have in recent public statements, including “deep concerns” about the treatment of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang, a crackdown in Hong Kong, “coercion “Chinese economic economy and Beijing’s” increasingly aggressive “stance towards Taiwan, the official added.
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US relations with China have plummeted in recent years, and the Alaska talks will be the first between the powers since Yang met with Blinken’s warmongering predecessor Mike Pompeo last June in Hawaii, a similar setting. away from the high-risk gaze of national capitals.
The Biden administration has generally backed the stricter approach to China initiated by former President Donald Trump, but has also insisted that it can be more effective in propping up alliances and seeking narrow ways to cooperate on priorities like climate change.
Another senior US official said Beijing “has been talking about its desire to change the tone of the relationship.”
But Washington will be weighing “deeds, not words on that front,” the official added, taking into account China’s “rather poor record in keeping its promises.”
The Biden administration said it does not want to enter into detailed negotiations at this stage and therefore does not expect any immediate announcements. There will be no joint statement at the end of the Anchorage meeting.
After the morning roundtable with emerging Japanese reporters, Blinken and Austin were ready to leave for Seoul for “2 + 2” talks with their South Korean counterparts until Thursday.
