US President Biden is visiting Japan. They want to “work together” to counteract China’s dominant appearance. The US is also launching a new economic initiative in the Indo-Pacific with IPEF.
According to US President Joe Biden, the US would also defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack. China has no right to take Taiwan by force, he stressed at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday in Tokyo. When asked whether the United States would also defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack, Biden said, “Yes.” When asked, he emphasized, “This is a commitment that we have made.”
Taking Taiwan by force would destabilize the entire region and would be similar to what happened in Ukraine, Biden said, referring to Russia’s war of aggression. “We remain committed to supporting cross-strait peace and stability and ensuring there is no unilateral change to the status quo,” the US president said, referring to the strait between mainland China and Taiwan. China’s behavior, including military maneuvers and flights near the island, “flirts with danger,” he said. However, he does not assume that China will actually try to attack Taiwan.
China considers Taiwan part of the People’s Republic
Biden had already declared late last year that the United States had an “obligation” to help Taiwan in the event of an attack. The communist leadership in Beijing considers Taiwan part of the People’s Republic and threatens to conquer it. The United States has committed to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself – which until now has mostly meant arms deliveries. The question of military assistance in the event of an attack was deliberately left open because Beijing saw it as a violation of the “One China Doctrine”. With this US “strategic ambiguity”, Beijing must remain unsure what the US would do in the event of war.
The United States has so far reserved the right to formal military assistance in Asia from its close allies, Japan and South Korea. The US military also has a military presence there.
The conflict over Taiwan’s status dates back to the civil war in China, when troops from the National Party of China (Kuomintang) under Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communists. Since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, Beijing has regarded the island as a breakaway part of the country. In a white paper presented in July 2019, Beijing repeated threats to recapture the island republic, if necessary using military force. “Taiwan’s full reunification with China is in China’s fundamental interest,” he said.
Japan and US want to cooperate more closely
The United States and Japan are moving even closer in view of China’s growing power quest. After a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, the White House said the two countries had agreed to “work together” to combat China’s increasingly dominant behavior. “violating international law”.
Among other things, the United States is suspicious of China’s effort to expand into the South China Sea. Beijing recently decided to drastically increase the military budget. The sharp increase in military spending comes amid threats from the communist leadership against democratic Taiwan (Republic of China) and China’s territorial disputes with its neighbors in the South and East China Seas, including Japan. The allies also agreed to cooperate closely on the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear program.
Biden praised Kishida for his cooperation on sanctions against Russia. Japan is a “key global leader” and the US remains “fully committed to the defense of Japan,” she said. Kishida was again pleased that, despite the war in Ukraine, Biden wants to “further increase his commitment in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Biden’s New Indo-Pacific Economic Initiative
The US, in turn, launched a new economic cooperation initiative in the Indo-Pacific region under his leadership. With the framework agreement known as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which also includes Japan, Australia, India and nine other countries, the US also wants to create a counterpoint to China’s growing influence in the region.
However, it is not a free trade agreement and there are no plans to reduce tariffs. In Tokyo, however, Biden was convinced that the Ipef PEF would bring “concrete benefits” to the region.
They want to “work together to create an economic order that will ensure sustainable growth, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region for years to come,” Prime Minister Kishida said. With IPEF, Japan’s protective power, the US, wants to work together with its Asian partner countries to tackle new challenges such as ensuring secure supply chains. And they also want to work more closely on standards for digital commerce, clean energy and fighting corruption. However, the details are still unclear.
US Joe Biden and Prime Minister of Japan Kishida hear from leaders attending the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) launch event in Tokyo. REUTERSTrump buried free trade agreements
There are also doubts whether IPEF can become a credible alternative to the big regional free trade agreements that the US has strayed from – while China wants to participate in them. In January, for example, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest trading bloc, took effect. Its members include Japan, South Korea and China. In addition, there is the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement. Since the US withdrew from the agreement under Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, the remaining eleven members have continued the agreement as the CPTPP.
China now also wants to join the agreement. At the same time, the Tokyo government hopes the US will return to the TPP agreement after all. Critics see the fact that IPEF does not address improving market access as an obstacle to winning over other Southeast Asian countries that want to increase their exports to the new initiative. In addition to the US and Japan, the new initiative also includes Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
(APA/dpa/AFP)