Biden victory to push China closer to Russia: Japanese expert

TOKYO, Nov 11, 2020, TASS. Joe Biden’s presumptive victory in the US presidential election will encourage further strategic rapprochement between Russia and China, Senior Research Fellow at Japan’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation Taisuke Abiru told TASS on Wednesday.

“The Donald Trump administration labels China as a US strategic rival,” the expert noted. Washington has been consistently carrying out a tough policy on China. This line is unlikely to change under Biden. In the coming years we will see continued strategic rivalry between the US and China,” according to the expert.

“In other words, China will still face a tough situation in its relations with the US, what will push it closer to Russia. The relations with Russia will be more important for Beijing as well as the relations with China for Russia, which will remain under US sanctions. This trend is likely to continue under Biden,” he noted.

The Japanese expert believes that currently there are no prospects of ironing out the territorial issue between Tokyo and Moscow. “It’s hard to expect any sharp progress here,” he noted. “However, in the mid-term and in the longer term Japan will seek to improve ties with Russia and sign a peace treaty based on the solution to the territorial issue.” According to the expert, Biden’s victory in the US presidential election is unlikely to have a significant impact on this situation.

Though the vote count is still underway, major US media outlets project that the Democratic contender has presumptively won the presidential election. Both Fox News and Associated Press have put Biden over the top, beyond the needed 270 vote threshold. Trump is challenging the current outcome, claiming irregularities in the ballot processing in key swing states, and has filed lawsuits to fight his case in court.