Japan continues to strengthen global ties during Biden visit

Japan has continued to strengthen its global ties this week after President Biden visited Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. The two-day visit was the first trip to Asia made by the President since he has taken office.

During the visit, Biden declared support for Japanese defence expansion while both nations condemned Russia and called for Putin to be held accountable for the atrocities carried out on Ukraine.

Kishida and Biden also publicly condemned China, claiming that its actions “are inconsistent with the international rules-based order, including coercion by economic and other means”.

They discussed China’s ever-expanding nuclear capabilities and asked China to make decisions to reduce nuclear risks, work towards nuclear disarmament and increase its transparency.

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The duo also declared their strong opposition to China’s unlawful maritime claims and its activities in the South China Sea and said that they would oppose any attempts at changing matters in the East China Sea. 

There have long since been territorial disputes over sea sovereignty near China. The South China Sea contains approximately 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which has naturally brought conflict between regional competitors Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, China has been physically increasing the size of its islands – literally by piling sand onto them – or by creating entirely new islands in order to lay claim over the area. China, in retaliation, claimed that the satellite images that found out about the expansions were unlawfully sourced.

As Biden’s visit took place, China held military exercises in the disputed sea, an unlikely coincidence.

Biden also took a major step in American defence policies in the region by pledging to defend Taiwan if the country was attacked by China. Up to this point, presidents have tended to follow a line of “strategic ambiguity”. North Korea will also be on the schedule.

Prime Minister Kishida and President Biden also shared their concerns about human rights issues in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 

On Tuesday, a new report of what looked to be hacked data seemed to show evidence of ethnic abuse of the Uyghurs. A 2019 UN assessment approximated that as many as one million Uyghurs had been detained by China and human rights groups, along with some governments, believe China’s actions can be counted as genocide under international law. China has always rejected these allegations.

A White House statement on Monday said that the two nations affirmed a “partnership that is stronger and deeper than at any time in its history”.

“It goes without saying that the Japan-US alliance is the linchpin of Japan’s diplomatic and security policy. The Japan-U.S. summit this time, in this context, was more important than ever in respect of two points,” said Kishida.

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Japan has long been one of America’s most important partners – partly because of its critical positioning in the region and partly because of its economic power. Japan has the third-largest economy in the world after the US and China, although its economy has been stagnating for years.

The meetings follow the 28th EU-Japan Summit in Tokyo last week, where Japan and the EU built on their 2019 EU-Japan Strategic Cooperation agreement, as well as the signing of a Digital Partnership – the first of its kind for Europe. The partnership will see Japan and the EU work together on digital technologies. In particular on 5G and future 6G expansions.

As part of Biden’s visit to the region, the President will also meet with leaders from Australia, and India, with the aim of creating an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

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