LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND –
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed on Saturday at a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on the sidelines of the G-7 ministerial meeting in Liverpool to strengthen ties with Japan amid a changing security landscape in the Indo-Pacific region.
According to news reports, the senior US diplomat and his Japanese counterpart were discussing joint efforts to improve deterrence and military attack capabilities in the face of Chinese rearmament and the North Korean nuclear program.
“In the face of the increasingly difficult security environment in the region, ministers agreed that strengthening the deterrent and response capabilities of the Japan-US alliance was vital,” said an official who briefed the media in camera after the meeting .
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented plans to strengthen Tokyo’s military defense position on Monday.
The official said Hayashi and Blinken had not discussed the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s human rights record, a move recently endorsed by Canada, Australia, Britain and the United States.
Blinken also met briefly with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on the sidelines of Saturday’s meeting announcing an “excellent year” for bilateral relations between the long-standing allies, without answering questions from reporters.
“Really, really remarkable things between Australia and the USA, from the Quad Leaders’ Summit, to AUKUS, to our 2 + 2, to the extremely important focus and coordination on a whole range of topics,” said Blinken.
AUKUS is an acronym for a trilateral alliance between Australia, Britain and the United States that entered into an agreement to build nuclear submarines for Australia – not a G-7 member – as part of the increased deterrent to China’s military expansion in India contains. Pacific region.
“I know you and me [and] our friends from Japan and India really appreciate this commitment, ”said Payne. “You are now anchored in our future, be it the quad, whether it is AUKUS. And the concrete, which for us represents the alliance between Australia and the USA, underpins all these efforts. “
Talks amid rising tensions with China, Russia and Iran
Saturday’s meetings will take place on the first of two days of talks between foreign ministers from the world’s leading industrial nations, informally known as the G-7, to discuss Russia’s build-up of troops along the common border with Ukraine, which will support Iran’s nuclear ambitions contain and the military seizure of Myanmar and the global coronavirus pandemic.
The talks opened early Saturday with a call by UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to unite against authoritarianism around the world.
“We have to come together strongly to hold our own against aggressors who try to restrict the limits of freedom and democracy,” said Truss, before meeting Blinken and her colleagues from France and Germany to concurrently discuss the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran to discuss in Vienna.
Blinken held “productive” meetings with counterparts from Great Britain, Germany and France on Friday in order to find a way for the Iran talks, according to a reading by the Foreign Ministry.
ASEAN participation
Blinken also had a series of face-to-face meetings with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Saturday as part of a December 9-17 trip that will also take him to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Hawaii.
Blinken’s trip is part of US efforts to advance its “strategic partnership” with ASEAN as President Joe Biden’s administration plans to embark on a new “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework” in early 2022.
This is the first time ASEAN countries are involved in the meeting of G-7 foreign and development ministers, where diplomats discuss China’s efforts to increase its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Next week in Jakarta, Indonesia, Blinken will make remarks on the importance of the Indo-Pacific region and underline the importance of the strategic partnership between the US and Indonesia.
“The secretary will have the opportunity to discuss the president’s newly announced business environment for the Indo-Pacific,” Daniel Kritenbrink, deputy secretary of the East Asia and Pacific Foreign Ministry, told reporters on a conference call. “President Biden is committed to taking US and ASEAN engagement to unprecedented levels,” he added.
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Kritenbrink told VOA on Wednesday that Blinken will attend a vaccination clinic hosted by the largest religious non-governmental organization in Indonesia.
Blinken then travels to Malaysia and Thailand, where he will seek to develop ties with the United States and address common challenges including fighting COVID-19, building resilient supply chains, dealing with the climate crisis and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region Region.
The Foreign Ministry said Blinken will address “the worsening crisis” in Myanmar during its long journey in each country. The military in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, seized power and overthrew the civilian government in February.
US officials had indicated that the new Indo-Pacific economic framework would include broad partnerships with nations in the region in critical areas such as the digital economy and technology, supply chain resilience and clean energy.
“The Indo-Pacific region is an important part of our economy. Not only does it account for over half of the world’s population and 60% of global GDP ”(Gross Domestic Product), Jose Fernandez, Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, said in a recent briefing.
“Seven of the 15 most important US export markets are in the Indo-Pacific. Reciprocal trade between the US and the region was over $ 1.75 trillion, ”he added.
However, there are concerns that the US is lagging behind China in deepening economic and strategic ties with ASEAN.
“ASEAN wants more of Washington on the economic side, but the Indo-Pacific economic framework proposed by the Biden administration is likely to fall short of expectations,” said Susannah Patton, research fellow at the United States’ Foreign Policy and Defense Study Center in Sydney.
“After the RCEP comes into effect, there will be two mega-trade pacts in Asia: RCEP and CPTPP, and the United States is not in either,” Patton said, referring to the regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“China’s application to join the CPTPP, a vehicle designed to promote US economic relations with Asia, underscores Washington’s absence,” Patton told VOA. The CPTPP, signed in 2018, is a free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.
In November 2020, 10 ASEAN member states and five other countries (Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand) signed the RCEP, which represents around 30% of global GDP and population. RCEP comes into force in January.
Others said the new Indo-Pacific economic framework doesn’t seem to revolve around traditional trade alone, as Washington signals strategic interests in the region.
Wayne Lee contributed to this report. Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-japan-agree-to-bolster-security-alliance-on-sidelines-of-g-7/6350778.html