US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin met with their counterparts in Tokyo on Tuesday, on the opening day of the Biden administration’s first Cabinet-level foreign trip.
In his meeting with Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Blinken “reaffirmed the vital importance of the US-Japan alliance to promoting peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region”. The leaders agreed to work closely on the denuclearisation of North Korea while expressing commitment to expand opportunities for the US-Japan-South Korea (ROK) trilateral cooperation on the matter. Blinken and Motegi also highlighted the importance of further strengthening the US-Japan partnership on climate change, clean energy, cybersecurity, supply chains, COVID-19, and the restoration of democracy in Burma, and pledged to discuss ways to deepen coordination on these priority issues.
Meanwhile, Pentagon chief Austin met with Japanese Minister of Defence Nobuo Kishi, wherein the leaders emphasised the importance of a strong US-Japan alliance as the “cornerstone of regional security and stability” in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a variety of issues, including “China’s growing capabilities and aggressive actions in the East and South China Seas, the threat from North Korean nuclear and missile programs, the importance of Japan’s role in regional security, advanced capabilities development, building partner capacity, and enhancing multilateral cooperation.” To this end, Austin stressed on the need for the two sides to prepare for long-term challenges, and the officials agreed to continue working to strengthen their defence relationship.
Both Blinken and Austin also met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and discussed “global priorities including strengthening democracy, addressing the DPRK nuclear threat, recovering from COVID-19, protecting global health security, and addressing the climate crisis.” According to the US State Department, the secretaries also expressed the US’ “unwavering commitment to the defence of Japan”, which includes the Senkaku Islands, and said that the US opposed “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea.” The islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands by China, are claimed by both nations, but controlled by Japan.
In a joint statement, the foreign and defence chiefs of both Japan and the US said that China’s assertive behaviour “presents political, economic, military, and technological challenges to the Alliance and to the international community,” and vowed to oppose “coercion and destabilizing behaviour toward others in the region”, which they said “undermines the rules-based international system.” The ministers also expressed concern about new “disruptive developments” in the region such as China’s new Coast Guard law, the human rights situation and Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as well as the Korean peninsula.
“Recognizing the increasingly serious regional security environment, the Ministers recommitted to enhancing close coordination to align security policy, deepen defence cooperation across all domains, and bolster extended deterrence by consulting on Alliance roles, missions, and capabilities,” the text said, adding that the countries would also work with members of the ‘Quad’ as well as ASEAN to realise their “shared vision of a free, open, and inclusive region anchored by universal values and unconstrained by coercive power”.
Following their meetings in Tokyo, Blinken and Austin will head to Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday, where they are expected to discuss the North Korea denuclearisation issue. Their visit will come just one day after Kim Yo Jong, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un’s sister criticised joint military exercises between the US and South Korea and warned Washington “to refrain from causing a stink.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to issue a word of advice to the new US administration, which is so eager to give off a smell of gunpowder in our land from across the ocean,” said Kim, who handles inter-Korean affairs for the North. “If they want to have a good night’s sleep for the next four years, it would be good for them not to do things that would prevent them from sleeping properly from the start.” She further noted that Pyongyang could take “exceptional measures” and abandon a 2018 inter-Korean military peace pact and completely shut off cooperation with the South if they “become more provocative.” South Korea’s Defence Ministry, in response to Kim’s remarks, defended the joint drills as defensive in nature and called on Pyongyang to show a more “flexible attitude.”
US Secretaries of State and Defence Begin Asia Tour in Tokyo
This is the Biden administration’s first Cabinet-level foreign trip.
March 17, 2021
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, with Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi. SOURCE: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AP VIA NPR