Policy Alert #228 | April 20, 2021

After a surprising one-week delay due to the need for “more time for preparation to ensure the success,” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visited Washington DC on April 15 as the first foreign leader to hold an in-person summit with President Joe Biden. After the summit, the two leaders issued a joint statement that showcases the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance and “advances the shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific” by launching a new Competitiveness and Resilience (CoRe) Partnership. It focuses on bilateral cooperation in innovation and supply chain of critical technologies including semiconductor and 5G communication, COVID response and public health, as well as climate change and clean energy.

Consistent with the previous security joint statement issued in March, China’s rising influence and assertiveness in the region remains a main target of the U.S.-Japan alliance. In particular, the latest joint statement underscores “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and encourages “the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues,” marking the first appearance of Taiwan in a U.S.-Japan joint statement since 1969 when both countries had yet to normalize diplomatic ties with China.

In a rare exchange on U.S. domestic issues, Prime Minister Suga discussed the increase in violence against Asian people in the U.S., to which President Biden firmly stated his opposition and commented that discriminations and violence cannot be allowed. During the press conference, Suga said he was encouraged by Biden’s response and the exchange renewed his “confidence in American democracy once again.”

In this Policy Alert, we examine the Chinese and Japanese reactions to the summit between President Biden and Prime Minister Suga.

China

In response to the U.S.-Japan joint statement, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. and in Japan, as well as the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian, all made similar comments that are consistent with China’s sovereignty claims in the region and against the liberal vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. In addition to declaring that issues of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang are China’s internal affairs while stating its territorial claims in the East and South China Seas, Zhao accuses the U.S. and Japan of “ganging up to form cliques and fanning bloc confrontation.” The Embassy in Washington accuses the U.S. of “stoking division and building blocs against other countries,” whereas the Embassy in Tokyo specifically criticizes Japan as having “successively taken negative actions on China-related issues, seriously damaging mutual political trust between the two sides and disrupting efforts by both sides to develop bilateral relations.”

• An editorial from the state-run China Daily raises the question of what Washington aims to achieve with its current China policy with a warning: “Neither Washington nor Tokyo can pretend that they do not know China’s clear-cut stance over issues concerning its core interests…The new US administration…has succeeded in displaying the US’ hostility toward China…Yet the administration needs to answer the inevitable questions: Where is its anti-China policy heading? Is it prepared to shoulder the dire consequences of decoupling with the Chinese economy or even a full-blown conflict over a regional flashpoint, such as Taiwan or the South China Sea?”
• In an op-ed for nationalist state-run tabloid Global Times, Yuan Zheng, deputy director and senior fellow of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, interprets the addition of Taiwan Strait in the joint statement as an indication of Tokyo fully committing to Washington’s China containment policy: “Mentioning the Taiwan question after 52 years shows that Tokyo is adjusting its China policy…Tokyo did not hesitate to betray the interests of the entire region, binding itself to Washington…In the long run, Japan may believe its strategic interests are closer to that of the US and containing China may seem more beneficial for Japan.”
• A commentary article for South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, challenges whether Japan is able to afford the increased military commitment from having closer security cooperation with the U.S.: “Analysts [from Japan’s Ministry of Defense] point out that Tokyo has already committed itself to a number of ‘big ticket’ military projects and may not be able to afford a bigger defense spending spree…Even under [former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe], who really wanted to increase military spending, it was not possible and there are a whole range of new pressures on Japan now, from coronavirus, the economy stalling and a huge national debt.”

Japan

At the press conference after the summit, Prime Minister Suga responded to a question about Japan’s role if a Taiwan contingency occurs: “I refrain from mentioning details, since it pertains to diplomatic exchanges, but there is already an agreed recognition over the importance of peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait between Japan and the United States, which was reaffirmed on this occasion.” Meanwhile, a tweet from Prime Minister Suga restates Japan’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific: “Thank you, Joe, for hosting me at the White House today for a productive meeting. Thanks to our shared democratic values, Japan and the United States will provide leadership for a free and open Indo-Pacific, and I am delighted to be able to work together to achieve this vision.”

• An editorial from the liberal Asahi Shimbun warns that while it is important to maintain close cooperation with U.S., Japan must map out its own strategy for dealing with China: “[Tokyo’s] strategic focus should be on preventing the dangerous escalation of the confrontation between the two leading powers through joint diplomatic efforts with the United States and other countries concerned…Japan and China are neighbors with strong, interdependent economic relations. Tokyo’s stance toward China cannot mirror that of Washington’s…Should a security emergency occur around Taiwan, Japan could be pulled in…Japan and the United States have a clear common interest in pursuing a healthy coexistence with China through dialogue while taking steps to pressure Beijing out of actions that challenge the existing order.”
• An editorial from the conservative Yomiuri Shimbun praises the deepening coordination in China policy between the U.S. while pushing for an active role for Japan in a potential crisis across the Taiwan Strait: “Japan needs to sufficiently coordinate its China strategy with the United States and must be determined to share responsibilities with the United States…If a military crisis arises in Taiwan, it will inevitably have a serious impact on Japan’s peace. It is appropriate for Japan and the United States to jointly issue a warning to China, which is intimidating Taiwan. It is essential that Japan and the United States discuss the division of roles in advance, assuming all possible scenarios.”
• In an op-ed for the center-right The Japan Times, Kuni Miyake, President of the Foreign Policy Institute, Research Director at Canon Institute for Global Studies and a special adviser to Prime Minister Suga’s Cabinet, argues that any Chinese retaliation in response to the joint statement would only push Tokyo and Washington closer together: “Tokyo, however, seems to have already passed the point of no return with the Japan-U.S. two-plus-two joint statement in March…If the Japan-U.S. summit in Washington should prompt a furious reaction from China, it will not only move Tokyo and Washington closer together and undermine the strategic interests of the Chinese Communist Party in the years to come.”