Joe Biden must start with Japan alliance to counter China’s influence, say former US officials

‘When the US and Japan work together, we can shape the environment in which China power increases,’ says former US assistant secretary of defence

‘I do not believe that the Biden administration is going to be soft on China,’ says former deputy secretary of state

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Aircraft carriers and warships participate in a joint exercise of India, US, Japan and Australia, in the northern Arabian Sea last month. The four countries form the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the “Quad”. Photo: Indian Navy via AP

Mark Magnierin the United States

Published: 4:46am, 8 Dec 2020Updated: 5:21am, 8 Dec 2020

As China flexes its muscles globally, the US-Japan alliance is the ideal starting point for the incoming Joe Biden administration to rebuild strategic, economic, technological and governing norms in order to check Beijing’s outsize ambitions, said analysts and ex-US officials on Monday.

While the US shares a growing interest with Europe, Canada, Southeast Asia and Australia in countering various parts of China’s blueprint for global expansion, none are as much of a natural fit across all these areas as Washington and Tokyo, they added.

Importantly, Japan has kept the torch lit as the Trump administration pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade grouping, picked fights with long-time allies and eschewed global cooperation under its “America first” policy, they added.

“When the US and Japan work together, we can shape the environment in which Chinese power increases,” said Joseph Nye, former US assistant secretary of defence and former dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

“Our alliance [is] going well beyond security … in technology and in economic assistance, the infrastructure to counter the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative [BRI], you’ll see that Japanese leadership is crucial.”

An aircraft carrier during a joint exercise of India, US, Japan and Australia, in the northern Arabian Sea in last month. Photo: Indian Navy via AP