The president of the United States, Joe Biden, will ask his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for a "constructive role" to contain the bellicose North Korea during the meeting that both will hold in Bali (Indonesia) in the run-up to the summit of the G -twenty.
In recent months, Pyongyang has increased its missile launches exponentially, and everything indicates that it is preparing its seventh nuclear test. According to the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, the US leader will insist that these actions represent a threat to his country and "regional peace and stability", and will ask Beijing to pressure its communist neighbor to temper its provocations. .
“If North Korea continues down this path, it will simply mean an increased US military and security presence in the region. China has an interest in playing a constructive role in containing North Korea's worst tendencies. Whether they decide to do it or not is up to them,” said the adviser.
Beijing is North Korea's main ally and largest trading partner. Even so, it is not clear to what extent he has the capacity to influence the Kim Jong Un regime or if he is interested in doing so at a time of growing tension in which Washington is strengthening ties with its allies in the region, South Korea and Japan. .
The North Korean issue will form, together with Taiwan or the war in Ukraine, a fundamental part of the meeting between the two leaders. Their first in-person meeting as presidents (they have met multiple times as vice presidents) is not expected to produce great results, but it is expected to expose their mutual red lines and keep communication open on matters of regional and global interest.
Sullivan spoke shortly before Biden landed in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, where he participated in the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During the meeting, the American pointed out that he seeks to give an aid of 850 million dollars for the region, an attempt to counteract the growing influence of China in the area.
Biden also celebrated the expansion of relations with this organization to a comprehensive strategic association, which brings them closer together to face challenges such as climate change, food security or security threats. “ASEAN is at the core of my Administration's strategy in the Indo-Pacific and we continue to strengthen our commitment,” she noted.
After years of diplomatic estrangement by former President Donald Trump, Biden is making an effort to strengthen relations with this Southeast Asian bloc, where political and economic influence is also disputed with China. Even so, its members try to maintain the balance between both powers without taking a clear side for either of them.
Biden, who seemed tired after arriving in Cambodia from the climate summit in Egypt, erred again in public by speaking of "Colombian leadership" instead of Cambodian. He is scheduled to meet this Sunday with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, also present at the forum, before heading to Indonesia.
