US remains focus on the Indo-Pacific, says Japanese envoy

Japanese ambassador Koji Tomita said US President Joe Biden’s visit to Japan this month would send a powerful signal that Washington remains focused on the Indo-Pacific despite the war in Ukraine. Tokyo’s ambassador to the United States said Biden’s visit to the country is expected to coincide with the formal launch of a new US economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific, even as China seeks “very aggressively” to fill a void since Washington quit a regional trade pact. Tomita said Japan and the US had been working on the details of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which, he said, needed to strike a balance between inclusivity and high standards. Biden, who is to visit South Korea and Japan from May 20 to May 24, announced the plan for IPEF last year.