On final day of Biden’s Asia trip, Russian and Chinese jets provide a pointed send-off.

On Tuesday, Russian and Chinese bombers launched combined patrols within Japanese and South Korean air defence zones as President Joe Biden wrapped off a trip to Asia that enraged Beijing.

 

The patrols came only hours after Biden enraged China by stating he would be willing to use military force to defend Taiwan if it was attacked, and as he debated reactions to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with leaders of the Quad, which includes the US, Australia, India, and Japan.

 

While Tokyo was hosting the Quad leaders, Japan said it scrambled fighters after Russian and Chinese warplanes approached its airspace. The drills were deemed a provocation by Tokyo.

 

According to a senior US official, it was the first joint military exercise between China and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24, and it came at the end of Biden’s four-day tour to South Korea and Japan.

 

‘China has no intention of abandoning Russia. Instead, the drill demonstrates that China is willing to assist Russia in defending its east while Russia fights in the west,’ added the official.

 

The joint patrol passed through the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the Philippine Sea, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price. He claimed the drill was likely prepared months in advance and demonstrated that the ‘no-limits’ strategic cooperation Beijing and Moscow established weeks before the invasion of Ukraine was still ‘very much alive and flourishing.’

 

‘On the other hand, the president’s successful tour… contrasts sharply with what we’ve seen from Russia and China; it underscores our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific area,’ he said.

 

Biden’s trip was part of the US’s campaign to counter what it deems Beijing’s ‘coercive’ behaviour, which includes actions against Taiwan, a self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.

 

In Asia, Biden pledged that the United States would work with allies and partners to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

 

When asked if he would be willing to respond militarily to a Chinese attack on Taiwan, Biden responded ‘absolutely’ at a news conference on Monday, breaking with a long-held policy of not specifying how the US may respond.

 

Although Biden stated that US policy had not changed, it was the latest in a string of seemingly off-the-cuff statements that show his personal preference is to defend the island.