Japan’s “Asahi Shimbun” published an article on June 20 entitled “Biden’s Diplomacy Difficulty Concealing Anxiety About China’s Strategy”. The article argues that for Japanese diplomacy and security, it is necessary to adopt a realistic approach that sees the increasingly “inward-looking” situation in the United States, rather than the naive idea of fully trusting the U.S. government. The full text is excerpted as follows:
What we must not forget is that US diplomacy fully reflects domestic affairs. The Biden administration’s hasty decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan caused serious chaos because a series of anti-terrorism wars brought a heavy burden and caused dissatisfaction with domestic public opinion in the United States. The same goes for the China strategy. Given that nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population sees China as a “competitor or hostile country,” the U.S. has used China politically to unite an increasingly divided domestic society.
Charles Stevenson, who worked with Biden in the Senate, believes that Biden, who was originally a moderate on China, turned into a hardliner on China because of changes in domestic public opinion in the United States. “At the time of the 2020 presidential election, no candidate wants to be a China dove. No one wants to be a China dove now,” he said. In order to win the hearts and minds of the American people, no politician can make concessions to China.
If you look at the situation under Biden’s administration, you can see that the skyrocketing prices following regarding 40 years have made people miserable. Coupled with Biden’s advanced age, it has also been pointed out that he may only serve one term as president.
In the 2024 US presidential election, if former President Trump from the Republican Party is re-elected, the domestic affairs of the United States are likely to be more chaotic. Although Trump is a hardliner on China, he is good at individual deals. The “encirclement of China” that Biden and Japan and other allies have worked so hard to build will risk becoming empty at that time.
From the perspective of strengthening China’s strategy in Japan, when reporting on Biden’s visit to Asian countries, the Japanese media’s welcome argument is more obvious. However, Biden’s diplomacy is accompanied by many unstable factors. If you want to exhort yourself, you can say that it is irresponsible for the Japanese media to blindly sound the marching horn of “deepening the Japan-US alliance.”
It goes without saying that the United States was and is an important ally of Japan. However, in terms of relations with China, Japan and the United States are in completely different strategic environments both geographically and economically. If something happens to Taiwan, the Japanese archipelago may be at the forefront, but politicians in Washington are not in a position to take responsibility for Japan’s national interests and risks.
What is necessary for Japanese diplomacy and security is a realist approach that sees America’s increasingly “inward-looking” situation, rather than the naive thinking of relying entirely on the U.S. government. Realism can prompt Japan to develop a strong strategy for survival in a multipolar world.
