Ministers from the United States and Japan lashed out at China after a summit meeting in Tokyo. According to the allies, the Communist People’s Republic is guilty of “destabilizing behaviour towards others in the region”.
US Ministers Antony Blinken (Foreign Affairs) and Lloyd Austin (Defense) visit Japan on their first trip abroad since they took office. Later they also go to South Korea. The US wants to strengthen ties with Asian allies at a time of conflict with China.
Japanese Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (Foreign Affairs) said that the countries are concerned about, among other things, instructions for violence from the Chinese coast guard. China has laid down legislation when foreign vessels may be fired at.
China is arguing with neighbouring countries about who controls certain waters in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has also regularly been at odds with the US in recent years. There were conflicts about trade, the coronavirus’s approach, the situation in Hong Kong and how China deals with the Uyghur minority.
Chinese and American top officials will soon be sitting around the table to discuss their tense relationship. Minister Blinken will also join this. After his Asia trip, he flies to Alaska, where the summit meeting will take place.
The US must also decide how it wants to move forward with North Korea. That country repeatedly caused international unrest by conducting nuclear tests and testing missiles. The previous president Trump sought a diplomatic solution and sat down with dictator Kim Jong-un himself, but that did not lead to a breakthrough.
Kim’s regime again voiced threatening language towards Washington on Tuesday. According to Pyongyang, Joe Biden’s new government should not immediately cause a stir “if they want to sleep peacefully for the next four years.”
Blinken did not want to comment on the content. He did say that “additional measures” are being considered to put pressure on Kim’s regime. That is already suffering severe international sanctions.
