Biden has pretty much wrapped up his Asia trip. We’ve been waiting to see how things develop before reporting more. And, so far, here’s everything that has happened:
Taiwan comments
Typically, the US usually remains “strategically ambiguous” on its stance on Taiwan, but Biden said a couple of days ago that the country would intervene if China tried to take Taiwan by force.
After Biden’s comments, the administration was quick to clarify that its stance on the “One China” policy hasn’t changed, but Beijing still didn’t exactly appreciate the comment.
Indo-Pacific pact
Biden also revealed a new economic pact in the Indo-Pacific, which includes a dozen Asia-Pacific nations and is designed to counter China’s influence in the region. The idea is that it will bring the US closer to economically strong countries in Asia like South Korea and Japan. But some are questioning whether it will be worth very much since it doesn’t have all the provisions that a standard free trade agreement has.
Vibes in the Quad in general
Speaking of those strong countries in Asia, Biden also met with the rest of the Quad, a group of four countries (The US, India, Japan, and Australia) with an ongoing security dialogue. The meeting reportedly involved discussions about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as China’s influence in the South China sea and potential Taiwan implications.
But as the meeting was happening, Japan and South Korea were scrambling jets because of Chinese and Russian warplanes entering their airspace in what the Japanese defense minister called a “provocative” action. Beijing said it was part of an annual military exercise.
