Biden vows to defend U.S. allies as China asserts power in Asia

TOKYO — As China flexes its muscles, President-elect Joe Biden is offering assurances to America’s top allies in the Asia-Pacific region that he’s not going to be a soft touch.

Biden spoke with the leaders of Australia, Japan and South Korea on Wednesday night in Washington, underlining in each call his commitment to “strengthen” their bilateral alliance, according to his team’s readout from the calls.

Follow the latest on Election 2020
The threat from an assertive China was not explicitly mentioned in the readouts, but loomed over the exchanges with Japan, where there are memories of an Obama administration that many saw as soft on Beijing, experts said.

“The president-elect underscored his deep commitment to the defense of Japan and U.S. commitments under Article 5,” Biden’s team said, referring to the two countries’ joint security treaty that commits the United States to respond to any attack on Japan.

AD
Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga went further, saying that Biden had given “a commitment” that Article 5 would cover an attack on the Senkaku islands, a chain of five rocky outcrops administered by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

China forces ouster of Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers, quashing opposition

Even better for Japan, Biden brought up the issue of the Senkaku islands, Japanese officials said. That repeats an explicit commitment first made by President Obama in 2014.

“For Japan, that was received with a sense of relief,” said Tetsuo Kotani, a professor at Meikai University, noting the two men had also agreed to cooperate on security across the Indo-Pacific region and to meet at an early stage. “For Japan, I think the talk was nearly a perfect score.”

With the world struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, and the United States distracted by its marathon electoral process, China has been seizing the moment to assert itself. On Wednesday, China dramatically intensified its clampdown on Hong Kong, a subject of bitter dispute between Beijing and Washington.

Chinese coast guard ships, meanwhile, have been ratcheting up the pressure around the Senkaku islands, appearing in the nearby waters almost every day this year, more than ever before.

The Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, seen in September 2012. Japan controls the islands but China also claims them.
The Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, seen in September 2012. Japan controls the islands but China also claims them. (© Kyodo / Reuters/Reuters)
Beijing also released draft legislation this month that would give its coastguard vessels the right to fire on foreign ships involved in illegal activities in waters claimed by China.

AD
Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, welcomed Biden’s comments, but said the fact that each new U.S. president had to repeat the same commitment to defend Japan and the Senkaku islands was paradoxically a sign of doubts about the relationship.

“If the credibility of the U.S. commitment to the defense of the Senkaku is solid, we wouldn’t have to keep doing this,” he said.

President Trump’s term in office, however, has been a roller-coaster ride in the Asia-Pacific region.

Trump publicly committed to the alliances with Japan and South Korea, but demanded much more money from both countries for stationing U.S. troops there. He was popular in some quarters for his perceived tougher stance on China than Obama, and tried to engage with North Korea, which won him sympathy in Seoul. But his mercurial nature also rang alarm bells.

North Korea watches Biden victory with one finger on the missile test trigger

In his call with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, Biden said he looked forward to working on shared challenges “from North Korea to climate change.”

AD
South Korea’s presidential Blue House put more stress on its own agenda, saying Biden had promised “close cooperation on solving North Korea nuclear issues,” but said China had not been mentioned

Kim Yong-hyun, professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, welcomed Biden’s pledge on North Korea, but said there will be concerns the diplomatic process with Pyongyang will be further stalled under his administration.

Compared with Trump, though, many in Asia are looking forward to a steadier hand under Biden.

“It’s a great thing that we don’t have this highly uncertain and unpredictable president anymore, after January next year,” said Michishita, though he noted there could still be substantial disagreements.

In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, an F/A-18E Super Hornet lands on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea on July 6, 2020.
In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, an F/A-18E Super Hornet lands on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea on July 6, 2020. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samantha Jetzer/AP)
Biden’s phone calls came after Beijing gutted Hong Kong’s legislature on Wednesday by allowing the disqualification of lawmakers deemed “unpatriotic.” Four pro-democracy legislators were forced out, triggering a mass walkout of opposition lawmakers.

AD
Chongyi Feng, associate professor in Chinese studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, said the move reflected Beijing’s aim to consolidate its position while much of the world is distracted by the coronavirus, and in the United States by Trump’s refusal to concede defeat.

“It was a brutal move,” he said, “and they are very smart in that sense as well.”

A U.S.-China detente under Biden? Beijing isn’t betting on it.

In June, China imposed a national security law for Hong Kong with immediate effect, as the United States was consumed by civil unrest over police brutality and the death of George Floyd.

Feng said China’s government recognized the strategic opportunity of the domestic distractions in the United States and Europe. But Beijing has also been careful about which fights it picked at this time, given a host of domestic challenges on its plate such as a slowing economy.

AD
China’s President Xi Jinping has yet to congratulate Biden for his win, and the Foreign Ministry only said this week it “noted” the Democrat’s claim of victory.

Victor Gao, a professor at China’s Soochow University and a former Foreign Ministry official, called the approach “cautious and prudent and legally correct,” even as he said officials hoped a Biden administration would bring some improvement in U.S.-China relations.

“China does not want to be seen as jumping the gun,” he said. “It’s purely a precautionary measure.”

Dou reported from Seoul. Akiko Kashiwagi in Tokyo and Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

China forces ouster of Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers, quashing opposition

North Korea watches Biden victory with one finger on the missile test trigger

World leaders have marked Biden’s win — but few dare to speak out on Trump’s loss

1 Comments

Simon Denyer
Simon Denyer is The Washington Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo, covering Japan and the Koreas. He previously worked as The Post’s bureau chief in Beijing and New Delhi; as a Reuters bureau chief in Washington, New Delhi and Islamabad; and a Reuters correspondent in Nairobi, New York and London.Follow

Eva Dou
Eva Dou is The Washington Post’s China business and economy correspondent. A Detroit native, she previously spent seven years reporting on politics and technology for the Wall Street Journal in Beijing and Taipei, Taiwan.Follow
More from The Post

His fellow Republicans turned on him, but Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger isn’t backing down

Georgia announces hand audit; Trump, Biden attend Veterans Day events

How independents, Latino voters and Catholics shifted from 2016 and swung states for Biden and Trump

Live updates: Hospitalizations hit all-time high as U.S. sets another record with 145,000 new infections

Arkansas police chief resigns after demanding ‘death’ for Democrats: ‘Leave no survivors’