This post contains raw text of policy-relevant statements by the U.S. government about the Chinese air defense identification zone announcement in late November. The statements are edited excerpted by me and have been compiled from numerous sources.
This is a collection of U.S. government releases and other key documents on Vice President Biden’s trip to Japan, China, and South Korea this week. I will try to update it as more documents emerge. These are in close to chronological order, though I don’t guarantee I got all the timezone conversions right. Please e-mail or comment if I’m missing anything big.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s motorcade drives west for his meetings with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 4, 2013. (Photo: Graham Webster)
[Cross-posted from gwbstr.com]
As U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visits East Asia, a lot of the media focus has centered around the recent Chinese announcement of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, a move apparently directed at Japan and the two countries’ territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. In an AFP story yesterday by Carol Huang, I am quoted cautioning that this long-planned Biden visit is not just about the most recent flare up.
Biden and Chinese leaders — he is also expected to meet Xi and Premier Li Keqiang — were unlikely to let ADIZ friction derail broader efforts to strengthen relations, said Graham Webster, a Beijing-based fellow at the Yale Law School China Centre specialising in US-Chinese ties.
“I don’t think it will be the main topic of conversation on this trip despite the recent news,” he said.
The overarching goal from such senior meetings was “about continuing the spirit of high-level cooperation and bilateral work in the common interest”, he added. [Full Story]
I was also an attendee at the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) conference in Beijing this week (where Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said alliances in the Asia-Pacific—implying the U.S. hub-and-spoke relationships with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, etc.—are “an outdated concept in international relations”).
On the way out of the conference, I noticed a police presence that was, it turned out, preparing for Biden himself to cruise by (above).
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Beijing is designed to lay the groundwork for later meetings between U.S. officials and rising leader Xi Jinping, who is currently Biden’s Chinese counterpart. Opting for a local favorite rather than a sterile array of table cloths and serving dishes, Biden made some waves on Weibo and in the U.S. media for mingling with local Beijing residents.
Evan Osnos has a write-up and a pool photo.
From Weibo, a picture in the vicinity, apparently while Biden was eating near the Drum Tower.
Someone's cell phone shot of the VP's party at Yaoji Chao Gan.
And from a past meeting between President Obama, President Carter, President Hu, and Vice President Biden:
President Barack Obama, along with President Hu Jintao of China, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and Vice President Joseph Biden, listen to former President Jimmy Carter during a reception in the Yellow Oval Room in the Residence of the White House, Jan. 19, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)