Is U.S. Vice President Biden In East Asia To Stop A Potential War?

US Vice President Joe Biden (l.) and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (r.) arrive at a joint news conference following their meeting at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo December 3, 2013. Toru Hanai/REUTERS

Forget Trade Talks, Biden Is in East Asia to Stop a Potential War -- Hannah Beech, Time

As Beijing flexes its muscles and pushes territorial claims, the U.S. Vice President needs to reassure allies and make full use of his rapport with Chinese President Xi Jinping

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden Jr.’s trip to Asia was supposed to be about mutually beneficial trade partnerships, the tastiness of U.S. agricultural exports and a dose of good ol’ American love for a region that has been feeling a little neglected lately. Instead, his Asia excursion, which includes stops in Japan, China and South Korea, has been dominated by a regional security crisis that some fear could spark armed conflict involving the world’s three biggest economies.

In Tokyo on Dec. 3, Biden renewed American ties with the staunchest U.S. ally in Asia, amid concerns over Beijing’s creation last month of an air-defense identification zone that includes skies over disputed territory between Japan and China. The U.S. Vice President has joined Japan in rejecting the lines China has drawn in the sky, with Biden characterizing himself as “deeply concerned,” in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily. Biden and Japan’s conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are scheduled to have a working dinner on Tuesday night. In the lead-up to Biden’s trip, U.S. officials reiterated Washington’s commitment to a longtime security alliance with Tokyo that calls for American troops to defend Japan in case of attack.

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My Comment: I am not optimistic on these talks. Chinese - Japanese animosities go back centuries .... and hoping that U.S. Vice President Biden may be able to mediate these deep differences is hoping for the impossible. The only thing that Vice President Biden can really do on this visit .... and he is doing this right now .... is to reassure America's allies in the region and to tell the Chinese that they have overstepped on this issue.

Update: The Chinese are already warning Vice President Biden on what to expect from them when he visits them on Wednesday.