Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Monday that Japan will urge Joe Biden to focus on foreign as well as domestic issues, including maintaining order in the Indo-Pacific region, as the president-elect prepares to take office in January.
Motegi said he believes Biden will concentrate on domestic issues at the beginning of his presidency, adding he expects the result of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election "not to be reversed" despite President Donald Trump's refusal to concede defeat and his filing of lawsuits in several battleground states.
The former U.S. vice president set up a coronavirus task force a few days after declaring victory in the presidential election, with the world's biggest economy recording the highest number of infections in the world.
"Japan has a major challenge (in ensuring that) the United States remains committed to order in the Indo-Pacific region, climate change, security and other global issues," he told a press conference at the Japan National Press Club.
Under the banner of putting America's interests first, Trump pulled the country out of international agreements such as the Paris climate accord and implemented protectionist trade measures.
"Other countries have expectations for Japan" to play a role in encouraging Washington to engage in international issues, Motegi said.
Japan has been seeking to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific, a concept it coined to promote free trade, the rule of law and freedom of navigation, in a veiled counter to China's rising military assertiveness in the region.
"Japan needs to resolutely prevent China's unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas by force," Motegi said.
The United States is expected to continue its hard-line stance on China under Biden, reflecting anti-China sentiment among the U.S. public and both Democrats and Republicans, Motegi said.
"Unfortunately, the U.S.-China frictions will not be resolved soon," he said, although Biden may be more collaborative with China on some issues such as climate change and global health than Trump.
On issues related to human rights, however, Biden could be harsher on China, Motegi said, including over Beijing's handling of protests in Hong Kong against a national security law that critics say has undermined freedom in the semi-autonomous territory and the treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
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