U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis To Visit China, Japan, And South Korea This Week

Image Credit: DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr

Ankit Panda, The Diplomat: Mattis to Visit China, Japan, and South Korea With South China Sea, North Korea in Mind

The trip will be Mattis’ first to China as U.S. secretary of defense.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will visit Asia in the coming week, making stops in China, Japan, and South Korea. The trip will be Mattis’ first to China in his capacity as the United States’ top defense official.

The trip will Mattis’ second trip to Asia this month, following a trip at the beginning of the month that included a stopover in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, where he delivered a major address on U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific region.

Mattis will arrive in China amid heightened tensions between the United States and China over trade, the militarization of features in the South China Sea, and Taiwan. Earlier this month, the new American Institute in Taiwan, the United States’ embassy in all-but-name, drawing attention to the close U.S.-Taiwan relationship.

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Update: Mattis to Visit China as Taiwan, S. China Sea Tensions Rise (Military.com/AP)

WNU Editor: His trip to China is not going to be all smiles and handshakes.