TOKYO—U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Japan on Monday for high-level meetings with their counterparts, an early move from the Biden administration to both signal resolve toward a resurgent China and reassure U.S. allies after four tumultuous years of the Trump administration.
“Our combined power makes us stronger when we must push back against China’s aggression and threats,” Blinken and Austin wrote in a joint Washington Post op-ed, citing human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet, and China’s pushback on freedoms in Taiwan and Hong Kong. “If we don’t act decisively and lead, Beijing will.”
