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US-China relations
OpinionWorld Opinion
Emanuele Scimia
Emanuele Scimia

Opinion | Why Biden is racing to build a Trump-proof US alliance system

  • A new Trump administration might weaken the web of military connections Biden’s team has rebuilt to counter China
  • The problem for US allies and partners in the region is that Trump’s backing in the confrontation with Beijing cannot be taken for granted

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US President Joe Biden escorts Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to their trilateral summit at the White House in Washington on April 11. Photo: Reuters
Emanuele Scimia
The trilateral summit last Thursday between the United States, Japan and the Philippines had the semblance of a Trump-proof exercise. Incumbent administrations in Washington, Tokyo and Manila needed to secure one pillar of the anti-China system of alliances that US President Joe Biden has painstakingly rebuilt and reinforced after four years of Donald Trump’s presidency marked by tensions and disagreements with US allies and partners in the Western Pacific.
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Polls give Trump a fair chance of winning the November presidential election, and alarm bells cannot but ring in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Manila and Canberra. Indeed, Trump’s idiosyncratic distrust of collective security could weaken the web of military connections the Biden team has devised to counter China’s growing geopolitical assertiveness.

Deepening security relations may minimise the risk of a turnaround by a new Trump administration. If the geostrategic bonds between the US and its friends are inextricably linked to America’s national interest, it will be more difficult for Trump to disrupt them.

Biden’s efforts to cement alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region have come at a time when appetite for bilateral, multilateral and minilateral cooperation against China’s advancements is growing.

Tokyo and Washington are taking steps to create a joint military command to deter China. And, despite Canberra’s denial, some sort of expansion of the Aukus security alliance between the US, Britain and Australia seems on the cards, as underlined by Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

03:45

US, Japan hail upgraded ties, unveil raft of bilateral deals following Biden-Kishida summit

US, Japan hail upgraded ties, unveil raft of bilateral deals following Biden-Kishida summit

In a recent interview, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the Atlantic alliance had to cooperate with other actors beyond its geography to counter a budding alliance of authoritarian powers formed by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. In this respect, he explicitly cited Japan and South Korea as potential partners in Nato’s expanded focus.

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