In visit, Austin hails Japan as 'cornerstone' of US China strategy
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Where the Obama administration spoke of a pivot to Asia, President Biden quickly dispatched his two most prominent Cabinet members to the region on their first overseas trip, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin defining the relationship with Japan as vital to containing China in the Indo-Pacific.
On Tuesday, Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with their counterparts in Japan before traveling on to South Korea, hoping to mend another Trump-era relationship frayed by American basing quarrels. With a one-year basing deal settled in Japan, Austin sought to reframe how military relations with the world’s No. 3 economy will better serve U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific, specifically the East China Sea and South China Sea.