Aug 22, 2020 (Japan Today) - As the race for the White House heats up, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has laid out a foreign policy that seeks to restore U.S. leadership on the global stage and reinvigorate ties with traditional allies including Japan.
If the former vice president with vast foreign policy experience wins the November election, a return to what can be seen as "normalcy" is widely expected, bringing relief to countries that have coped with Republican President Donald Trump's erratic decision-making, provocative rhetoric and transactional approach to alliances since he took office in 2017.
Yet the current administration's hard-line approach toward China would likely continue even under Biden, possibly leaving countries like Japan in an ongoing balancing act amid the growing U.S.-China rivalry, experts say.
"A stereotyped image in Japan is that the Republicans are tough on China and the Democrats are soft...But there has been a bipartisan consensus to a tough-on-China approach in terms of human rights, security and economic issues in recent years...and I don't expect a Biden administration to reverse course," said Yuki Tatsumi of the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank.
If there would be any difference, a Biden administration's response would likely be more calibrated, such as refraining from taking provocative actions that could end up creating a situation China could take advantage of, and there would be more close communication with U.S. allies on various issues, she said.
"The Japanese government will probably find it easier to work with Mr Biden," the expert on U.S. policies in East Asia said, adding that the last thing Tokyo would want is "surprises," such as an abrupt thaw in ties between Washington and Beijing or sudden developments in talks on the denuclearization of North Korea.
Andrew Oros, professor of political science at Washington College, said that a coordinated response between the United States and its allies is gaining importance, as he sees China taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to advance its interests, including its claims in the East and South China seas.
As countries around the world continue to grapple with virus outbreaks, Chinese coast guard ships had been spotted near the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for more than 100 straight days, in what Tokyo sees as part of Beijing's campaign to press its claim to the uninhabited islets.
In the South China Sea in April, a China coast guard ship allegedly rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing vessel near the Paracel Islands, claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
