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Philippine, Australian, Japanese and US warships sail in a column formation during join drills in the South China Sea on Sunday. Photo: Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP
Asia

US wants to ‘flip script’, isolate China with allies’ help, says Washington’s ambassador to Tokyo

  • Its alliance with Japan is helping the US switch to a more multinational approach to security and economic development, the US envoy to Japan said
  • His remarks came as a senior US admiral said China’s actions in the South China Sea were an example of it trying to gain territory through force
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US President Joe Biden’s administration is looking to reverse China’s attempts to isolate countries in Asia including the Philippines with help from Japan and other allies in the region, according to US Ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel.
“Our strategy is to flip that script, and make the isolated party China,” Emanuel said in Washington ahead of a summit between Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The meeting, part of the first official visit by a Japanese leader to the US in nearly a decade, comes at a critical time in the bilateral relationship. The countries are seeking to step up cooperation on security in the Indo-Pacific region as China takes an increasingly assertive stance on disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Will the Philippines’ summit with US, Japan further erode Manila-Beijing ties?

The two leaders will hold an unprecedented trilateral summit with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on Thursday to discuss advancing three-way cooperation in strategic areas including security, emerging technologies and supply chains.

Rahm flagged the importance of the alliance with Japan in helping the US switch to a more multinational approach to security and economic development. The US has been known for a “hub and spokes” approach to security ties that didn’t require close relationships among its allies.

“This lattice structure is a fundamental shift of the United States to a more multinational approach whether it comes to military exercises, economic development, or whether it comes to diplomatic initiatives,” Emanuel added.

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel attends a wreath-laying ceremony by Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Arlington National Cemetery in the US on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Meanwhile, a senior US admiral has said that China’s actions in the South China Sea were an example of it trying to gain territorial space through force, and were destabilising the region.

The Philippines and China have had a series of maritime run-ins, including water cannon use, and heated verbal exchanges that have triggered concern about an escalation at sea.

Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, said on Tuesday in an address to the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney that China’s actions against the Philippines, particularly in Second Thomas Shoal, were “dangerous, illegal and they are destabilising the region”.

Aquilino said he was “very concerned about what is happening at Second Thomas Shoal”, where the physical action of the Chinese coast guard and a fishing vessel had resulted in six sailors injured. “So what’s next and how far are they willing to go in that area?”

02:13

Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters

Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters
He said similar actions by China were also being seen elsewhere in the region, including in Japan and Malaysia.

“This is not isolated, this is about the PRC [People’s Republic of China] trying to gain territorial space unilaterally through force,” he said.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory, policed by an armada of coastguard vessels, some more than 1,000km (620 miles) from its mainland, and has maintained its responses have been appropriate in the face of Philippine encroachment.

Aquilino said there was positive movement in the US-China relationship since the leaders of the two countries had spoken, with no concerning maritime interactions between the US and China since then.
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral John Aquilino speaks during a forum at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Tuesday. He said he was “very concerned” about China’s aggression towards Philippine forces in the South China Sea. Photo: Lowy Institute via AP

But Aquilino said he was concerned this detente was temporary, as China sought to stabilise its economy.

He also expressed concern about what he said was synchronisation between Russia and China, and Russia and North Korea.

“Those sets of cooperation and the linkages are really a new world and a concern,” he said.

In Pacific nations, he said China was exercising economic coercion, and said Australia and the US were working together to focus on increasing development assistance to the region, including the Solomon Islands which has struck a security pact with China.

“An increased military presence in that region is a direct threat to Australia as it applies to homeland defence and it doesn’t put the US in a good position either,” he said.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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