March 15, 2021

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin were set to meet counterparts in Tokyo on Tuesday, highlighting a focus by the new Washington administration on alliances in Indo-Pacific in the face of assertive China.

The visit, from March 15 to 18, to Tokyo and Seoul is the first overseas trip by top cabinet members of President Joe Biden’s team and follows last week’s Quad alliance summit of the leaders of the United States, Japan, Australia and India.

Issues on the agenda range from freedom of navigation in the South and East China Seas and semiconductor supply-chain security to the North Korean nuclear issue and a military coup in Myanmar, experts say.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-asia-blinken-japan-idUSKBN2B71C9