TOKYO – President Biden predicted at his first press conference on China last month that he would predict strong competition, saying the US would be relentless in telling the world about the human rights violations in Beijing.
A week before that, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had asked a similar question at his own press conference. He said there are different problems between Tokyo and Beijing and leave it there.
Reluctance among allies to tackle China from scratch is a challenge to Biden’s foreign policy, which emphasizes working with them to strengthen America’s world power.
This Friday, Mr. Suga the first foreign leader that Mr. Biden met in person, which distinguished Japan. Yet political and business leaders in Tokyo are uncomfortable being caught up in the public confrontation with China, and they are hoping for a way of working that will limit Beijing’s military but keep trade profitable more or less untouched.
“Japan is making efforts to ensure that security mistrust does not affect economic ties,” said Rumi Aoyama, a professor at Waseda University.