A16 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2020
BY SIMON DENYER
AND EVA DOUtokyo — As China flexes its mus-
cles, President-elect Joe Biden is
offering assurances to America’s
top allies in the Asia-Pacific region
that he is not going to be a soft
touch.
Biden spoke with the leaders of
Australia, Japan and South Korea
on Wednesday night Eastern time,
underlining in each call his com-
mitment to “strengthen” their bi-
lateral alliance, according to his
team’s readout from the calls.
The threat from an assertive
China was not explicitly men-
tioned in the readouts, but it
loomed over the exchanges with
Japan, where there are memories
of an Obama administration that
many saw as soft on Beijing, ex-
perts said.
“The President-elect under-
scored his deep commitment to
the defense of Japan and U.S. com-
mitments under Article 5,” Biden’s
team said, referring to the two
countries’ joint security treaty
that commits the United States to
respond to any attack on Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshi-
hide Suga went further, saying
that Biden gave “a commitment”
that Article 5 would cover an at-
tack on the Senkaku Islands, a
chain of five rocky outcrops ad-
ministered by Japan but claimed
by China, which calls them Di-
aoyu.
Even better for Japan, Biden
brought up the issue of the Sen-
kaku Islands, Japanese officials
said. That repeats an explicit com-
mitment made by President Ba-
rack Obama in 2014.
“For Japan, that was received
with a sense of relief,” said Tetsuo
Kotani, a professor at Meikai Uni-
versity, noting the two men had
also agreed to cooperate on secu-
rity across the Indo-Pacific region
and to meet at an early stage. “For
Japan, I t hink the talk was nearly a
perfect score.”
With the world struggling to
contain the coronavirus pandem-
ic, and the United States distract-
ed by its marathon electoral proc-
ess, China has been seizing the
moment to assert itself. On
Wednesday, China dramatically
intensified its clampdown on
Hong Kong, a subject of bitter
dispute between Beijing and
Washington.
Chinese coast guard ships,
meanwhile, have been ratcheting
up the pressure around the Sen-
kaku Islands, appearing in the
nearby waters almost every day
this year, more than ever before.
Beijing also released draft legis-
lation this month that would give
its coast guard vessels the right to
fire on foreign ships involved in
illegal activities in waters claimed
by China.
Narushige Michishita, a profes-
sor at the National Graduate Insti-
tute for Policy Studies in Tokyo,
welcomed Biden’s comments. But
he said the fact that each new U.S.
president had to repeat the same
commitment to defend Japan and
the Senkaku Islands was paradox-
ically a sign of doubts about the
relationship.
“If the credibility of the U.S.
commitment to the defense of the
Senkaku is solid, we wouldn’t have
to keep doing this,” he said.
President Trump’s term in of-
fice, however, has been a roller-
coaster ride in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Trump publicly committed to
the alliances with Japan and
South Korea but demanded much
more money from both countries
for stationing U.S. troops there.
He was popular in some quarters
for his perceived tougher stance
on China than Obama, and he
tried to engage with North Korea,
which won him sympathy in
Seoul. But his mercurial nature
also rang alarm bells.
In his call with South Korean
President Moon Jae-in, Biden said
he looked forward to working onBiden a∞rms ties
to allies as C hina
asserts its power
Japan welcomes specific
commitment during c all
over Senkaku Islandsshared challenges, “from North
Korea to climate change.”
South Korea’s presidential Blue
House put more stress on its agen-
da, saying Biden promised “close
cooperation on solving North Ko-
rea nuclear issues.” It said China
was not mentioned
Kim Yong-hyun, a p rofessor of
North Korean studies at Dongguk
University in Seoul, welcomed
Biden’s pledge on North Korea but
predicted concerns that the diplo-
matic process with Pyongyang
will be further stalled under his
administration.
Compared with Trump, though,
many in Asia are looking forward
to a steadier hand under Biden.
“It’s a great thing that we don’t
have this highly uncertain and
unpredictable president any-
more, after January next year,”
said Michishita, although he not-
ed that there could still be sub-
stantial disagreements.
Biden’s phone calls came after
Beijing gutted Hong Kong’s legis-
lature on Wednesday by allowing
the disqualification of lawmakers
deemed “unpatriotic.” Four pro-
democracy legislators were forcedout, triggering a m ass walkout of
opposition lawmakers.
Chongyi Feng, an associate pro-
fessor in Chinese studies at the
University of Technology, Sydney,
said the move reflected Beijin g’s
aim to consolidate its position
while much of the world is dis-
tracted by the coronavirus pan-
demic, and in the United States by
Trump’s refusal to concede defeat
to Biden.
“It was a b rutal move,” he said,
“and they are very smart in that
sense as well.”
In June, China imposed a na-
tional security law for Hong Kong
with immediate effect, as the Unit-
ed States was consumed by civil
unrest over police brutality and
the death of George Floyd in Min-
neapolis police custody.
Feng said China’s government
recognized the strategic opportu-
nity of the domestic distractions
in the United States and Europe.
But Beijing has also been careful
abo ut which fights it picked at this
time, given the domestic chal -
lenges on its plate, such as a slow-
ing economy.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping hasLEE JIN-MAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
T hen-Vice President Joe Biden visits a m ilitary observation post in the demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula in 2013. Below,
banners supporting the alliance between South Korea and the United States are displa yed Thursday near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.yet to congratulate Biden for his
win, and the Foreign Ministry said
this week only that it “noted” the
Democrat’s claim of vi ctory.
Victor Gao, a professor at Chi-
na’s Soochow University and a
former Foreign Ministry official,
called the approach “cautious and
prudent and legally correct,” even
as he said officials hoped a B iden
administration would bring someimprovement in U.S.-China rela-
tions.
“China does not want to be seen
as jumping the gun,” he said. “It’s
purely a precautionary measure.”
[email protected]
eva.d [email protected]Dou reported from Seoul. Akiko
Kashiwagi in Tokyo and Min Joo Kim in
Seoul contributed to this report.AHN YOUNG-JOON/ASSOCIATED PRESSAlexander Hardy, CEO, GenentechHosted by The Post’s David Ignatiuson Friday, Nov. 13 at 1:00 p.m. ETTo receive a live streamreminder for this eventvisit: washingtonpostlive.com3-6-1-6-6-7-5-1-