China likely to be hot topic when top US officials visit Japan, South Korea, observers say

The United States will raise its concerns about escalating regional pressure from China in strategic talks with Japan and South Korea this week, as it seeks to rebuild its alliances ahead of a high-level meeting with Chinese diplomats in Alaska, analysts say.

On their first overseas trips as representatives of US President Joe Biden’s administration, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin arrived in Tokyo on Monday evening for a meeting with their Japanese counterparts the next day, followed by a foreign and defence ministerial in Seoul on Wednesday.