mexico, one of the most attractive aspects of the festival is watching visitors proudly dawning traditional attire. ah, after being shut down for 2 years to, to cope at 19 restrictions, the festival has made a big comeback, giving visitors and introspective look at cultural heritage through more than 30 genres of mexican folk music. mammals, if went up in november, rosellan would have communities all around the world, turned to look at their own traditions. the cultural wealth of latin american countries is immense. but we are often forced to listen to just one type of music like breton, which is horrible. event organizers say they hope the festival will continue to grow and attract more international visitors who are curious about the great many customs and traditions that make up mexican culture. ah, manuel rappel al jazeera mexico city. ah,

i'm carry johnson with the headlines and elsewhere. voters in australia ended a decade. the rule by the conservative coalition lay the pots he will now from the next government and its leader until the noisy will be prime minister. but he is yet to get to parliamentary majority to night, the astrology and paypal had voted for change. ah, i am humbled by this victory. i know i'm honored to be given the opportunity to serve as the 31st prime minister of a u. s. president joe biden has approved a 40000000000 it on the 8 package. view. crane is the latest on top of the $13600000000.00 that washington has already given. a funeral has been held for 17 year old palestinian shot and killed by his very force season occupied west bank . it happened in jeanine la al jazeera journalist,

shaheen i've actually was killed last week. those are the headlights and use continues hair on al jazeera. that's after inside story the what, what do we need to know that on this which i don't need to be with them when you look at me about how to put them to me, i just need you and most of the you open the home and ya today and we're going to give you what we said as well. they didn't put me in. i'm a lot of fun at the booking for the streaming. yeah. when i don't,

i mean, i mean, i shooting a lot of data. ah, joe biden visits asia for the 1st time as you as president. just how different is his pivot to asia from his pre the festive and how is the war in ukraine impacting us policy towards the region? this is inside story.

ah hello, welcome to the show. i'm sammy's a dan. it's now a decade after barack obama announced a pivot to asia and successive us administrations. of talked about china's growing economic, diplomatic and military clout, will a year ago, secretary of state antony blinkin said china represented america's biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century. but troubles elsewhere have obscured the planned focus on bay ging. now the u. s. is stepping up support for ukraine in its war with russia. so is that conflict challenging the u. s. is long sought strategic and economic shift to asia. how panel will discuss this shortly? but 1st,

florence louis reports from sole jo biden's 1st stop in asia. on the ground in south korea, a mixed response to us precedent jo biden's visit. these demonstrate is welcomed him. seeing this as an opportunity to present a united front against north korea. that follows reports leader kim jong and maybe about to conduct a 7th nuclear weapons test. but here, activists concerned about an arms race, a calling for peace. when the 2 presidents met at a summit on saturday, security was high on the agenda. j. i a hurry, hurry r o r r d mission they discussed enhancing sanctions and expanding

the scope of combined military exercises. biden also said he's not opposed to meeting him, john good. if he sincere you both president june and president biden also said they were ready to help north korea deal with an outbreak of coated 19 o, leaving an era where the economy, security, security is their economy disruption in the supply chain caused by changes in the international security order is directory related to the lives of our people. but analysts say that may not be enough to bring north korea to the negotiating table. kim's, our resume appears to be determined to develop our military ah capability to make sure that north korea will be armed to have a sufficient capability to hold you. as for susan civilian populations in south korea and in japan as hostages, although countering china's dominance in the region was not explicitly mentioned,

the biden administration has made no secret of the site. it used china as the strategic challenge in tokyo on monday, president biden will unveil the indoor pacific economic framework. its members will include south korea and japan. analysts say the u. s. is reasserting itself in the region. years after former president donald trump pulled out of the trans pacific pond, the ship trade packed. however, china sees that agreement as an attempt to marginalize it. a chinese foreign ministry spokesman criticized the u. s. on friday, saying it should do more to contribute to peace in the region. instead of creating divisions. florence louis for inside story. ah, well, let's bring in our guests into the show. now we have joining us from washington, d. c. hi, no clink. he's a former us deputy assistant secretary of defense for east asia and former military

tashay at the u. s embassy in beijing. in beijing, victor gal, a chair professor at su chow university and a former chinese foreign service officer. and in tokyo, ca hico to gucci. i, professor at k a university and the form of special adviser to the cabinet of prime minister sion. so ave welcome to will. i could start with high know, 1st of all, just how different is the biden pivot to asia compared to the obama pivot to asia, the compare a policy towards asia. well, thank you very much for inviting me today. i would say that the biden administration has taken some very necessary steps to continue american focus on the region as a pacific nation. obviously, the united states has a number of interests whether they be can i make security cultural and very close ties having for treaty allies in the region as well?

i for one, i don't particularly like the use of the word pivot to be quite honest because it is kind of implies that you're turning one away from one region to turn to another . i think united states as a global leader can and should divide its attention equally around the world. and i think again, we can do that. this is your, my whole personal expression is that's right. that's right. absolutely. so this is the president's 1st trip to the region up as the president, i lord, that attention that is brightly placed on visiting 2 of our pivotal allies, south korea that just recently inaugurated a new president, as well as visiting japan. both very strong treaty allies, both allies with which we share common interest and very importantly as well common values. victo. when we hear policy,

experts or officials talk about focusing that the u. s. is now focusing on asia. how is that understood in bay jing is that understood basically as countering chinese influence? well, 1st of all, i think ever since 1945, the united states has never left east asia or asia in general. so the so called a pivot to asia is a misnomer. to start with now, it is apparent that the united states government over the past several years, including during the obama administration trumpet ministration. the more recently in the item administration, they wanted to do something to contain the rise of china, allow me to have the size. first of all, this is parking at the wrong tree. secondly, this will be our field trial attempt because the rise of china is a mega trend of our time. the united states will better serve itself to come to

terms with the steady rise of china. now the other point is that in east asia, in particular, the mega tract is peace and stability and development. because we really do not want to have a walk or confrontation because peace will be most important for countries like japan, south korea, or china. and we want to promote peace rather than to follow the footstep of any country which wants to promote confrontation. interesting that the discussion very quickly often escalates into talk about, you know, war versus piece. things very telling, i'm sure going to come back to pick up on that. but if i could bring tunnel, he co in come a he co as high know mentioned south korea, got a new president. you saw your campaign to strengthen relations with the u. s. japan's prime minister came to power last year, didn't he? because she the full meo, he's been talking about also working,

working closely with the u. s. does that tell us how much of an appetite there is right now to strengthen ties with us because of concerns about china? is that the way things are going to maintain strong relationships with the united states has been and still is? and will continue to be the top priority for japan. the focus for next week with biden, with narrative muddy from india, and with the newly elected australian prime minister, anthony albany, z. ah, is going to be about quad an indo pacific. it's not necessarily a bilateral focus, the focus is going to be multi lateral and the scope we're talking about is the endo pacific region and the salience a quad the is going to be once again stressed by all the members,

all the leaders participating. i know the indo pacific economic framework is this, basically an attempt by the u. s. to catch up with china when it comes to development issues when it comes to integration, economic integration in the region. i don't think so. no, as a matter of fact, much too many of my chinese colleagues, chagrin everything the united states does in the region is not focused on coral quote, containing china. it's matter of fact, i think the united states, i played a big role in the so called peaceful rise of china. back in the last decade and beyond. i think that the united states, encouraging and facilitating more economic integration is a good thing for all parties concerned in that we all want economic growth to be the common denominator in our relationships,

whether they be bilaterally or multilaterally. so this is something that should be welcomed by all countries in the region. what is it welcome by all countries region . victor, how do you think china seas the potential of an expanded economic role for the us in asia? but in a framework that, of course, does not include china. well, 1st of all, from the chinese perspective, the us presence in the asian pacific region, if it is for promoting multilateralism trade and good neighbor. a relations, for example, will always be well kept. china wants to keep it open to the united states and to all the other countries to promote greater trade and good relations. on the other hand, if the united states ain is to isolate china, to derail china, to set up blocks to a put china aside. first of all, this is a wrong strategy to start with. secondly, it will backfire why?

because china is the largest, the trading lation of almost all the countries in the asian pacific region, including japan, south korea, your name, it. how can any country attempt to exclude the largest trade? elation this will backfire because this will really cause the united states to suffer. the consequences allow me to use one single example. i hope president bite will, will really bring back to the united states some baby formula because you really cannot do things completely on your own. this is a globalized the world. we need to have international corporation of all kinds. rather than artificially setting up one, brock against another brock of countries, china is a false for peace and stability of trade. and we want to open the door open as

widely as possible. mm hm. welcome. american participation many american companies operating in china are making huge profits, sometimes more profit than their home operations. indian either states saw i hold the united states government will follow the logic of market economy rather then dictate terms well or violate market economy. or let me take that point back to high. no, i mean, i know it could be argued, look, there was the t t p, which was much more of an inclusive organization, right? the u. s. pulled out under the last for the previous president, donald trump, and now biden is setting up i path. is it not able to say that that is really an attempt to cut china alto, compete with it, because that one doesn't include china. let me just if i might reply to some of

professor cow's eloquent statements, i, i find it highly ironic that he sites our current baby formula issues. because i remember living in china when there was a huge scandal about fake baby formula being manufactured by chinese companies. that kill dozens of not hundreds of chinese babies. so i find that again, quite ironic that the sites are current difficulties with respect to the u. s. market economy compared to the chinese economy, which is in fact is not a market economy. when you consider the high percentage of state enterprises as well as the role of the c, c p, the chinese communist party in every single company organization with within the borders of china. again, i find that highly ironic. and i would also say we're, as i certainly support an open market and companies freely being able to enter and exit countries. china has levied many,

many restrictions on foreign companies operating with, within this borders, whether it's a mandatory establishment of joint ventures. again, the mandatory establishment, the c c party sells within organizations and others. and if you read more recent polling of western companies, whether it's through the american chamber commerce in china or the european union chamber of commerce holding of its member companies, the trend lines are quite quite negative. and i think that's a reflection of the sheet governments heavy thumb on all aspects of operating in china. and i think you're going to see that the trend lines are, are going towards companies diversifying, whether it's using china as a basis for there's i chain as well as diversifying china as a marketplace. right? so hopefully be some reforms internally with china to make it truly welcoming

countries. coming back to the question of economic blogs, maybe total hico, how to countries in the, in the region view this, do they feel that they need to make a choice between close economic ties with the u. s. all with china has to choose between. i path on the one hand and the t p p o, the road and belt initiative on the other countries such as the united states in japan with full market economy and plus open and transparent. government must stick together to set the rules as high as possible, taking into consideration labor standard, economic environmental ah, ah, conditions and intellectual property and so on, so forth. china is yet to overcome those hurdles, as was said by our american carly,

you get her or each and every company, not only stayed on company, but private company, effectively run by members of the communist party. it's not the economy we're talking about. the chinese people are, may want to believe that their rise is peaceful and it is certainly true that their rise is a mega trend for our century. but they are also re writing status quo. a look, for instance, what they're doing each and every day in east asia, in e, in the east, tennessee, and in the south china sea. they are provoking territorial integrity of japan, the philippines and vietnam all the time, every day, without exception. it's not something that you could call peaceful and coming back to the economic framework ah, belt and road initiative is

a china centric initiative. whereas t p, p. and did the i pad, are open to the indo pacific, a member into pacific regions, member nations. and there is setting the highest, the possible standard i in order for china to catch up with. i think it might be fair to give vick to gal a chance to come back in. i'm sure you have something to say about what our last to guess had to say i'll, i'll give you a moment, victor, before we move on to the war and ukraine, how that's impacting policy towards h a. go ahead victor. well, thank you very much. allow me to make several important points. first of all, i would say peace and stability in east asia as the most important, if we look at to pan. amazingly, japan does not have good relations with russia, with south korea, with china, or even with channels tie one province. it has territorial disputes with all these

countries, or province of china. and this is despite on the fact that japan unconditionally surrendered at the end of the 2nd world war. so i hope japan will put a premium to peace and stability and good. they will include rather than try to rewrite history, japan unconditionally surrendered. and japan will make huge mistake if it invites nuclear weapons from the united states to be based in japan, because this will be unfair to the japanese people. now secondly, in terms of economic development, china has never falster, any foreign country to enter china. all the flooring companies, hundreds of thousands of them, enter the china already terribly. if you give me any one country which is forced to buy china by an come point or by coercion to enter the china market, tell me, you cannot give me any single name. why do they want to come to china because of

the size of the chinese economy? because of the rapid economic growth around 2010, the chinese economy was similar to that of truck japan line today. only 12 years later, the chinese economy is about 350 times that of japan. so i hope everyone running business, or you'll have a company to run, need to realize that the mega trend is that china, whatever use call it by whatever name has its own momentum of girls. and that is that a girl who are you and child ok. and not be extra, it's china cannot be going off. this is the real mega trend of our time. all right, let's, let's try and catch a few minutes before the show wraps up. i want to come back and talk about the warn you crate. how much of a distraction has that been for the us focus on asia as it distracted us?

only attention, but some would say resources. a thing recently the senate approved an additional $40000000000.00 and military aid or aid for ukraine. is that taking away something from the focus on asia? well, let me 1st of all see what a tragedy it is that russia, that has continues to have very close ties with the people's republic. and frankly, the chinese government has supported hootin. it's a tragedy that they invaded ukraine that has caused the dust of tens of thousands of b of united states in conjunction with its partners and allies, and like minded countries all over the world. a has a come to the assistance of ukraine and providing it self defense articles, again demonstrates that the united states can do more than one thing at a time. so as far as i'm aware, none of our military resources have been pulled from the in the pacific theater to

support in bolstering nato's defense. right. so you don't, thing is my, we're, i, well, i mean it again, it's certainly causes our senior leaders and policy makers to focus on one part of the world where as you know, many of us who have spent a lot of time focused on age of you would prefer for them, so that's been a time focused on i right. i think we got a couple, nancy said, or go ahead to quickly one of the full height of a national defense strategy from the united states. that was just published a couple weeks ago. still says the civically, that our number one priority theater is the in the pacific, an god that china remains a sing military threat. all right, i'm going to try and get a minute to each of our remaining guest before we have to wrap up. so everyone gets a lost fulton trauma hico. how reliable is the u. s. in the eyes of some of the u. s. allies in the region when it comes to it's approach to the region when it comes

to its commitment to multilateralism and alliances. we've seen the u. s. swing between the obama era to the america. first of donald trump, now are a kind of a different approach. again, with, by the might this swing continue, the u. s. president, come and go. but the fact will remain that japan host the largest military footprint of the united states without japan, the u. s. asia strategy, i would not have been materialized. right. and so it is incumbent upon japan to urge the united states in to incentivized united states to remain firm in this part of the world. i'm not asking the and it states to stay. i'm asking the japanese government to do the best to do the utmost. okay. make the u. s. president as a secure and as reliable as possible. all right, we've got about

a minute. let me give it to vixen now. does the war in ukraine impact china's plans in the south china sea in towards taiwan at all? does that have implications? thank you. allow me to make a 1st point. i think, ever since 1945, the us troops, i've never left japan. in reality, the u. s. troops are still an occupying force in japan. i hope japan will focus on peace and development and will eventually regain its full sovereignty rather than being following the u. s. leadership in the world. secondly, the ukranian war has its own logic. it is untrue to say that the international community is against russia in this war. as a matter of fact, you are only talking about 30 countries, also opposing economic sanctions against the russia, and they are changing in the way they do the sanctions. the overwhelming majority

of the countries in the world are much imposing sanctions against russia. and i hope the united states will realize that china is not an enemy of the united states . right. and the chinese people are not enemies of the united states either. so don't bark at the wrong tree when you want to figure out which country is our enemy, nor i, law is no enemy of the united states. okay. let's hope you'll be a lot less barking up any trees than the world can move towards a more peaceful direction. we're thank our guests so much for sharing their perspectives. it's been a wider range of diverse perspectives or thank you for bring it to the table and to the show. i know kink, victor, gal, tama, he catallo gucci and thank you to for watching and can see the show again. any time by visiting our website al jazeera dot com and for further discussion head over to our facebook page. that's facebook dot com, forward slash ha. inside story,

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