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TOKYO: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Tuesday (October 6) of Beijing’s “malign activity in the region” when he met with key Asia-Pacific allies in Tokyo, presenting a united front. against an increasingly assertive China.
The top US diplomat will meet his Japanese, Australian and Indian counterparts on a trip that was cut short after President Donald Trump and a host of staff and advisers contracted COVID-19.
Their first meeting was with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, at which they “discussed their shared concerns regarding the evil activity of the People’s Republic of China in the region,” said a US State Department official. .
LEE: Pompeo in Japan to boost solidarity with Asian allies to counter China
The Tokyo talks come with the United States, Australia and India at odds with Beijing, leaving Japan in the delicate position of standing alongside its allies as it tries to preserve gradually improving ties with China.
Pompeo is the first senior US official to visit Japan since Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took office last month, saying he was confident that Tokyo and Washington were on the same page.
“In his first statement after taking office, Prime Minister Suga described the free and open Indo-Pacific as ‘the basis of regional peace and stability.’ I could not agree more,” he said at the beginning of the talks. with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu. Motegi.
Speaking later, Suga said that the spread of the coronavirus had demonstrated “exactly why now is the time that we must further deepen coordination with as many countries as possible who share our vision and build on our efforts to improve cooperation.”
Pompeo is a vociferous critic of China on issues ranging from security to human rights to the coronavirus pandemic, which the Trump administration has tried to blame directly on Beijing ahead of the November 3 US election.
He has led an international campaign for other nations to avoid China, including its technology.
“CLIQUES CLOSED AND EXCLUSIVE”
But Japan has insisted that the talks are not aimed at any country, and the Foreign Ministry offered a comprehensive summary of the bilateral talks, saying they touched on “the situation in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and Korea. from North”.
Despite Pompeo’s promise of “major announcements,” a joint statement or press conference is not expected after Tuesday’s four-way talks.
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The “Quad” grouping was heavily promoted by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a way for the region’s major democracies to intensify cooperation in the face of military and other threats posed by China.
Suga told reporters on Monday that he will seek “to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific” but also to “build stable relations with neighboring countries, including China and Russia.”
Beijing has made no secret of its views on the Quad group, and the Foreign Ministry last week urged countries to avoid “closed and exclusive cliques.”
“We hope that the relevant countries can proceed from the common interests of the countries in the region and do more things that lead to regional peace, stability and development, not the other way around,” said the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. , Wang Wenbin.
The first Quad meeting took place in New York last year, and there are moves to make the meeting an annual event.
Pompeo returns to Washington in the late afternoon. The planned stops in South Korea and Mongolia have been scrapped.
