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Biden begins his trip to Asia to forge alliances against China with technological and economic agreements

2022-05-20T13:11:21.197Z


The president landed in South Korea, where he begins his first tour of Asia with the focus on strengthening cooperation with allies and rivalry with China and North Korea in the background.


By Carol E. Lee and Mike Memoli -

NBC News

SEOUL — President Joe Biden kicked off his first trip to Asia since taking office Friday, as polls reveal some of the lowest domestic approval ratings since the start of his term.

The president will try to take steps to counter China's saber rattling and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Biden is scheduled to spend two days in South Korea, where he will showcase new economic investments in the United States by some of the country's biggest companies, including plans by automaker Hyundai to open a plant in Georgia. 

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Next, he is scheduled to fly to Tokyo to attend a meeting of an alliance between the United States, Australia, Japan and India, aimed at curbing China's growing military might.

The war in Ukraine looms over Biden's four-day trip to the other side of the globe, in which leaders plan to press Indian President Narendra Modi to take a strong stand against the Russian invasion and the United States hopes that the global response to Moscow's aggression may dissuade China from advancing on Taiwan.

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"The message that we're trying to send on this trip is a message of an affirmative vision of what the world can be like if the world's democracies and open societies stick together," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. journalists on Wednesday.

“We believe that message will be heard everywhere.

We believe it will be heard in Beijing,” he added.

Also overshadowing Biden's trip may be growing concern within the administration that North Korea could conduct a nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile to coincide with his visit.

US officials have said that the intelligence services believe either or both are possible.

If either occurs, it would be the first time North Korea has taken such a step in several years.

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Sullivan told reporters before Biden's departure that the administration was prepared "to make short-term and long-term adjustments to our military posture, as necessary" to try to deter Pyongyang from further provocations and defend allies. of the United States in the region.

At the same time, the United States is keeping open the possibility of a diplomatic dialogue with North Korea, although it notes that contacts have been few, and could make an offer of help in the event of an outbreak of COVID-19 in the North. isolated country, including by supplying vaccines.

Biden, in particular, does not plan to visit the demilitarized zone that divides North and South Korea.

The White House has not explained why.

White House officials said the purpose of the trip is economic initiatives, noting that Biden did visit the demilitarized zone as vice president.

Biden is scheduled to visit US troops in the region.

President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visit the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek campus, Friday, May 20, 2022, in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Evan Vucci / AP

During his stay in Seoul, Biden is scheduled to meet with newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and attend a state dinner.

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He is expected to visit a Samsung factory as part of its emphasis on efforts by South Korea's technology and manufacturing industries to bring more of their operations - and jobs - to the United States.

Biden is also scheduled to announce a new economic initiative, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which the White House says is aimed at expanding trade, strengthening supply chains and dealing with the climate emergency.

The tour of Asia begins by highlighting new foreign investment in the US economy, as the Administration seeks to emphasize an economic message when the overwhelming majority of Americans - 75% in the latest poll from our sister network NBC News - believe that the country is going down the wrong path.

Just 33% of all respondents and just 20% of independents in that poll said they approved of Biden's handling of the economy.

An important part of the Tokyo visit is expected to be a meeting with the leaders of the so-called Quad, an alliance of the United States, India, Australia and Japan.

In addition to meeting his host, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden is also expected to have one-on-one meetings with Modi and the winner of Saturday's Australian election.

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Biden officials have worked to build the Quad into a more substantive military and economic force that, along with new economic initiatives, is designed to send a message to China.

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Michael Green, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington DC-based think tank, told reporters ahead of Biden's trip that "the subtext of the Quad is that it's about a powerful alignment of democracies." maritime companies concerned about security and stability and the balance of power as China asserts itself.”

Biden has repeatedly argued that the 21st century will be defined by the struggle between democracies like the United States and autocracies like Russia and China.

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His trip to Asia is intended to illustrate that, just as he has worked hard this year to maintain unity among European allies in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine, he can build a similar network of partners in the Eastern Hemisphere as a buffer against China. especially in the face of any consideration of exercising its growing military might.

China, even more so than Russia, has been central to Biden's foreign policy approach over the past decade, ever since he traveled to Beijing as vice president for the first extensive meetings with China's future president, Xi Jinping.

And while the Administration has considered the joint actions against Russia that have dominated its foreign policy agenda this year, it has done so mindful that China would be watching its every move.




Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-05-20

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