Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had a conference in Tokyo on March 16 with their counterparts, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi. Afterwards they met with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Following up on the Quad meetings, and looking toward the scheduled meeting in Alaska on March 18 with top Chinese officials, the Biden administration seems to be setting the stage for continued geopolitical games at that meeting with the Chinese.
In Tokyo, Blinken focused upon the “shared values” theme against the supposedly repressive actions of China: “Because we’ve seen in our countries that those values actually make us stronger, and because they’re under threat in many places, including in the region – whether it’s in Burma or whether in different ways in China.” His joint statement with Motegi included the formulation: “China’s behavior, where inconsistent with the existing international order, presents political, economic, military and technological challenges.”
