Secretary Blinken visits Japan

2025-01-07 18:25:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

President Joe Biden's decision to block the purchase of American steel company US Steel by Japanese company Nippon Steel for $14.9 billion casts a shadow over the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Japan, for farewell meetings with Washington's most important ally in Asia.

The decision, made public on Friday to reject the proposed deal, shook the United States' efforts to strengthen ties with Asian allies at a time when the political crisis in South Korea could complicate revived relations between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. . The trilateral alliance is a key element in the three countries' efforts to counter China's military buildup.

There may be a curb on investment in the United States, but analysts believe the damage to US-Japan relations is likely to be limited, given shared security concerns about China.

On Monday, Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba described President Biden's decision to block the sale of US Steel to the Japanese company Nippon Steel as "difficult to understand."
Accompanied by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary Blinken met with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Tokyo and will also hold talks with Prime Minister Ishiba and other senior Japanese officials.

The multiple trips to Japan over the past four years "are evidence of not only the attention, but the high importance that the United States places on our partnership. President Biden asked me to come on this last trip to underscore that," he told Secretary Blinken Japanese counterpart Iwaya.

"We have a partnership that started with a focus on bilateral issues, then yielded results on regional issues and is now fully global," Mr. Blinken added.

While in Seoul on Monday, Secretary Blinken reaffirmed his belief that South Korea is capable of managing its political turmoil, as investigators in the country sought an extension of the arrest warrant to handcuff ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol. .

US President-elect Donald Trump's allies have also assured Seoul and Tokyo that he will support continued strengthening of ties and the advancement of military, economic and diplomatic cooperation to counter China and North Korea, the news agency reported. Reuters news before Mr. Trump's victory in the Nov. 5 election.

Japanese steel company Nippon Steel and American steel company US Steel filed a lawsuit on Monday arguing that President Joe Biden violated the US Constitution by blocking their merger under the argument of undermining national security, which they described as a "fabricated argument."

The two companies asked the Federal Court to overturn the decision.

Nicholas Szechenyi, an expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said President Biden's decision would make Mr. Blinken's visit to Tokyo "awkward." /VOA