China enacted legislation explicitly granting broad powers to the country’s coast guard and confirming the force’s quasi-military status. It comes a day after Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, assured his Japanese counterpart that the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands fall under the U.S.-Japan defense treaty.
Some 1,600 delegates from across the country will travel to Hanoi to attend Vietnam’s 13th National Congress. Delegates will select new leadership for one of the world’s fastest growing economies – and one that has increasingly found itself caught in the middle of the crossfire between the United States and China, its two biggest trade partners.
As US President Joe Biden takes the helm, he will need to reckon with a very different China than the country he dealt with as vice-president more than four years ago.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. and Kamala Devi Harris took the oath of office at a Capitol still reeling from the attack of a violent mob at a time when a deadly pandemic is still ravaging the country.
President Moon Jae-in replaced key members of his cabinet and aides at the Blue House. The reshuffle, particularly of key members handling foreign affairs and national security, is part of the Moon administration’s preparation to deal with the new U.S. administration, particularly on North Korea issues.
Beijing announced sanctions on nearly every Trump administration official who worked on China policy. The announcement on the heels of Biden’s inauguration could be an attempt to gauge the new administration’s positions.