- The leaders expressed their opposition to the PRC’s policy in the South China Sea and “unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans.”
- They also announced increased cooperation “to help Ukrainians regain their freedom and seek to rebuild their state”.
- China criticized the meeting as the beginning of a “destructive mini-NATO” buildup.
- More important information can be found on the Onet homepage
“This is a historic place for a historic moment. We have before us a new era of partnership between Japan and the Republic of Korea and a new triangle with Camp David,” President Biden announced during a joint press conference of the leaders of the three countries.
On Friday, the leaders signed two joint documents – the “Camp David Principles” and a joint statement entitled “Camp David Spirit”.
We announced a number of joint decisions and initiatives aimed at deepening institutional cooperation within the Triangle. Among them are for example commitments to tripartite consultations, coordination of crisis response and creation of a “hot line”, a multi-year plan for joint military exercises, development of the US-Japanese missile defense system, intelligence sharing, new energy security initiatives, a system for warning of disruptions in supply chains for vital minerals and cooperation To enhance the capabilities of the Indo-Pacific Navy.
USA, Japan and South Korea vs China
The leaders expressed their opposition to the PRC’s policy in the South China Sea and “unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific” and announced increased cooperation “to help Ukrainians regain their freedom and seek reconstruction”.
Biden praised his Asian partners for their position on Russia’s war against Ukraine, stressing that this is a matter of concern to the whole world and that he did not have to convince the Japanese prime minister of that.
– We had a situation where (…) another country invaded for no reason, except – if we read Putin’s speech after the invasion – that Kiev is the mother (Rus). I think he also said something about being Peter the Great. Imagine if we did nothing. You immediately noticed, Prime Minister, that we are in a situation where it could happen anywhere else. I said: What signal does that send to China about Taiwan? Biden was saying.
As all the leaders emphasized, the summit – the first separate meeting of this format – aims to take cooperation to the next level, to strengthen it for many years, and to protect against future changes of power in the capitals. It is also a reference to China, which, using state media, criticized the meeting as the beginning of a “destructive little NATO” build.
US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Jun Sok-gyul and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
As Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said before the meeting, although the creation of a “NATO for the Pacific” is not the immediate goal of this cooperation, the leaders want to institutionalize and deepen it so that progress cannot be easily reversed and will continue. For many years despite the political changes in these countries.
“It’s not about a day or a week or a month. We build relationships around decades and decades,” Biden said. “I have little in common with my predecessor and his ‘America First’ policy. This foreign policy makes America weaker. America’s strength lies in its alliances… And everything we agreed on here is to create a momentum that will make our relationship stronger and safer year after year and month after month.”
Although the United States has separate mutual defense treaties with both Japan and South Korea, the relationship between the two Asian powers has repeatedly experienced severe strains, including due to historical politics and the events of World War II. Biden praised John and Kishida for their courage in overcoming these issues.
White House officials stressed that the choice of the US President’s resort in Maryland as a place for the meeting was not accidental and was intended to emphasize the importance and history of the event, which was previously the site of the peace agreements between Egypt and Israel in 1978.
The United States strengthens alliances in Asia
The summit is another step by the current US administration to strengthen alliances in the Pacific region with the aim of competing with China.
On Friday, the US president also said he expects to hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this fall, continuing the dialogue held at the G20 summit in Bali last year.
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