Biden's China visit could help defuse air defence zone crisis, say experts
Vice-president's pre-planned trip provides opportunity for both sides to defuse air zone tensions
US Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to China next week could help defuse a potential crisis in Sino-US relations over Beijing's newly declared air defence identification zone, US officials and analysts said.
"Clearly, the visit to China creates an opportunity for the vice-president to discuss with policymakers in Beijing this issue, to convey our concerns directly and to seek clarity regarding the Chinese intentions in making this move at this time," a senior administration official told a briefing on Biden's trip to Asia.
However, the administration official said Biden's visit would cover a broad range of issues.
"He's going to have a very high-level and a very wide-ranging dialogue with the senior Chinese leadership that covers a wide range of shared interests along with areas of concern, areas of co-operation and areas of deconfliction," he said, according to a statement released by the White House.
"And it's especially important, I think, at a time when there is potential in the region for some miscalculation, some mistrust, that we continue to amplify our messages - that we are and always will be there for our allies, and that there is a way for two major powers in the US and China to build a different kind of relationship for the 21st century," the official said.
Biden's visit to Japan, China and South Korea is scheduled to start on Monday.
The pre-planned visit comes just days after two unarmed US B-52 bombers flew through Beijing's newly declared air defence identification zone (ADIZ), which overlaps the existing ADIZ of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and includes the disputed Diaoyu islands, which Japan calls the Senkakus.