After Biden announced his withdrawal from the election, Harris received enough support from party representatives within 36 hours to quickly lock in the Democratic presidential nomination. It is widely believed that if Harris takes office, she will continue Biden's foreign policy. The latest polling data in the United States shows that Harris currently leads Trump by a narrow 2 percentage point.
Seeing that a strong candidate has emerged for the Democratic Party, the Biden administration has begun to do things again.
On the 24th, Blinken will visit six countries, including Viet Nam, Laos, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia, seeking to strengthen United States relations with its main allies in the so-called Indo-Pacific region.
Harris
According to the schedule announced by the United States State Department, Blinken first traveled to Viet Nam, and then attended the ASEAN meeting in Laos on the 26th and 27th. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Conda said that the Chinese and US foreign ministers will meet during the meeting.
After that, Blinken will travel to Japan to attend the "2+2" meeting of the defense ministers and foreign ministers of the United States and Japan, as well as the foreign ministers' meeting of the "quadrilateral mechanism" of the United States, Japan, India and Australia. Next stop, Blinken will attend a "2+2" meeting of U.S. and Philippine foreign and defense ministers in Manila to discuss the South China Sea.
So, what do you think of Blinken's trip to Asia?
First of all, Blinken's itinerary basically drew an arc-shaped encirclement around China, which is obviously to "bury mines" for China. Although Blinken plans to meet with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, he does not plan to visit China, but rather woos neighboring countries, apparently forming a "small circle" against China.
Of course, this also sends a signal that the United States cannot give up its goal of containing China.
However, China has already spoken out in advance. Ambassador Xie Feng said that China-US relations are at a critical stage of stopping the decline and stabilizing, and the progress has not been easy to come by, and the challenges should not be underestimated. Blinken should not think that saying a few nice words in front of Foreign Minister Wang Yi will not affect China-US relations.
Second, from the ranking of Blinken's visit destinations, we can also get a glimpse of the focus of the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy.
The reasons why Blinken prioritized his visit to Viet Nam are well known. Earlier, Hanoi followed the example of the Philippines and submitted a submission to the United Nations on the delimitation of its continental shelf, challenging China's territorial sovereignty. In the eyes of United States, the nail of Viet Nam has finally loosened and there is an opportunity to take advantage of it.
The ASEAN meeting held in Laos can be said to be an international diplomatic event, including Russia, all countries concerned about the Indo-Pacific region have basically come, and United States will certainly not be absent. As for Japan and the Philippines, this is also an attempt by the Biden administration to appease the younger brother.
The United States, Japan and the Philippines
At present, people in the Kishida government are panicking, and many officials are worried that if Biden steps down, the US-Japan alliance will be damaged, and China and Russia will join forces to deal with Japan. The Philippines is worried that after the change of United States, support for the Philippines will weaken and it will lose its capital in the South China Sea.
As a matter of fact, Japan and the Philippines have begun to consciously adjust their China policy. In the past few days, Japan dignitaries have visited China one after another; The Philippines has also reached an agreement with China on the management of the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, returning to the "China-Philippines Gentlemen's Agreement". Seeing that Japan and the Philippines are betting on China, it is not surprising that Blinken is anxious. Singapore and Mongolia can be seen as potential targets for United States and are therefore ranked last.
In the end, Blinken is interested in driving a wedge between China and Russia, and wants to win back a game in the Indo-Pacific. Although Blinken is targeting China, he has not forgotten to increase high-level meetings between China and the United States and plant nails between China and Russia. It must be noted that Sino-Russian relations are not interfered with by third parties, and United States still died of this heart as soon as possible.
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