Biden arrives in Tokyo to launch Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

U.S. President Joe Biden met with Japanese Emperor Naruhito in Tokyo Monday, followed by prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

In their meeting, Biden and Kishida pledged to work closely to address security challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and China’s increasingly coercive behavior that violates international law, a White House statement said.

Biden is scheduled to join Allies Monday afternoon Tokyo time to announce the launch of the IPEF, an Indo-Pacific economic framework to expand U.S. economic influence, and attend a summit of the “Quadripartite Security Dialogue,” or QUAD, on Tuesday, cementing a cornerstone of the U.S. strategy to counter Chinese expansion.

The Indo-Pacific Economic Prosperity Framework is a program that seeks to bring countries with common interests in the region closer together by strengthening common standards in areas including supply chain resilience, clean energy, infrastructure and digital trade.

According to the report. The framework is unlikely to include binding commitments. Moreover, the initiative has received a mild response from Asian countries and trade experts because Of President Biden’s reluctance to further open markets and offer tariff preferences to other countries to protect American jobs.

The White House has said it wants to announce the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as a prelude to the formal start of negotiations with a core group of like-minded countries. However, Japan wants to ensure wider participation, including as many Southeast Asian countries as possible.

In light of this, Monday’s announcement is likely to be an agreement to start discussions on the Indo-Pacific economic framework rather than actual negotiations, the sources said, according to the report.

U.S. Presidential National Security Adviser Jim Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One that Taiwan would not be part of the Indo-Pacific economic framework, but that Washington would seek to deepen economic ties with the self-ruled island, the report said.

In Tokyo on Tuesday, Biden will hold the second face-to-face “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue” summit with the leaders of Japan, India and Australia. All four leaders are concerned about China’s expansion, but the Quadripartite Security Dialogue, as a mechanism, avoids the appearance of open opposition to China’s agenda, largely out of concern that India might be sensitive to the issue.

Analysts say India’s close security ties with Russia and its refusal to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine may prevent the summit from making a strong joint statement on the war.

But at the last quadripartite security Dialogue summit in March, the four leaders agreed that an invasion of Ukraine should not be allowed to happen in the Indo-Pacific. Although there was no mention of China, it was a clear reference to the threat China poses to Taiwan.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday that the U.S. indo-Pacific strategy is essentially one that creates division, incites confrontation and destroys peace, and will inevitably fail in the end.