What Biden wants in Asia

Follow Us Get the newsletter After four years of anti-China rhetoric from the Trump administration, President Joe Biden is trying a different strategy with allies in Asia. He's going to focus less on listing China's wrongs, and instead pursue policies designed to win support from countries wary about tackling Beijing head on, given their reliance on trade with the world's second-biggest economy. Biden and the other leaders of the so-called Quad countries — Japan, India and Australia — will meet virtually today for the first time. It's meant to project a common front in the face of China's tussles on the Himalayan border with India, crackdown in Hong Kong and trade reprisals against Australia. But the leaders hope to move beyond symbolism. The meeting may yield a financing program to boost India's capacity to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines. The aim is to buoy western supplies and produce shots that can be distributed across Asia, while pushing back against China's vaccine diplomacy. The summit is part of a flurry of diplomatic engagements with Asia designed to shore up U.S. security partnerships and set the tone for relations with Beijing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin travel to Japan and South Korea next week, with Blinken due to meet with his Chinese counterpart in Alaska on his return. In a sign of the challenges to come, China blasted the U.S. as unreliable today after Bloomberg reported the Biden administration was tightening curbs on telecoms giant Huawei. Blinken tweeted that discussions with China will take in a range of issues, including "those where we have deep disagreements." Alaska will give an initial indication whether chill winds or warmer relations lie ahead. — Iain Marlow U.S. aircraft fly over the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group in the South China Sea on Feb. 9. Photographer: Seaman Deirdre Marsac/Digital Click here for this week's most compelling political images and tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. Global Headlines Glimmer of light | Biden vowed to accelerate vaccinations and offered Americans hope they would be able to start returning to a normal life by July 4, their Independence Day. In his first prime-time address since his inauguration, the president lauded the landmark $1.9 trillion stimulus package he signed earlier yesterday that will provide aid within days. Holding court | Donald Trump is building a political operation to lead the Republican Party from his Mar-a-Lago resort. But as Mark Niquette and Billy House report, the former president is clashing with others from the party who have tried to convince him — so far in vain — to put winning a majority in Congress in 2022 ahead of his desire to retaliate against those Republicans who voted to impeach him. Sputnik at large | Russia is ramping up overseas production of its Covid vaccine, pledging to supply 700 million people outside its borders this year. While Russians have been reluctant to sign up for Sputnik V shots, the head of the fund that backed their development said millions have been delivered to Latin America, while India, China and South Korea will lead production abroad. When it comes to vaccines, Biden is basically following Trump's practice of making sure Americans are fully protected before sharing the doses around the world, and Russia and China have stepped into that breach. Importing discrimination | The government-funded Indian Institutes of Technology provide hundreds of graduates to Silicon Valley each year. But as Saritha Rai reports, the coders, programmers and engineers bring with them the troubled legacy of India's caste system, with students and workers from Scheduled Castes — also known as Dalits — facing open discrimination, bullying, and segregation. Brexit woes | U.K. importers cheered yesterday's decision to postpone border checks on goods coming from the European Union until next year. Yet, as Joe Mayes writes, for some exporters who have experienced shipping delays and already paid thousands of pounds in custom fees, it's a different story. U.K. trade with the EU plunged almost 41% in January from December, signaling Brexit's damaging impact on trade relations. What to Watch The global shortage of auto chips may drag into the second half of the year, according to Renesas Chief Executive Officer Hidetoshi Shibata. AstraZeneca will supply less than half the number of Covid shots to the EU in the second quarter than originally planned. The new U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is raising pressure on Ethiopia and Yemen to end their respective conflicts. Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government is meeting today to decide whether to impose new restrictions that would lock down cities including Rome and Milan amid a resurgence in virus cases. Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Which African nation's prime minister died this week of cancer less than a year of being appointed following the death of his predecessor? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... Beijing's increasing grip on Hong Kong has done more than snuff out the pro-democracy movement: It's changed the city's physical landscape. From shuttered storefronts and barricaded buildings in the wake of protests in 2019 to a hotel converted into the headquarters of the new National Security Office, evidence of China's heavy hand is all around. Buildings in Shenzhen on the horizon beyond Hong Kong on Dec. 7, 2020. The rise of the tech hub just across the city's border has exacerbated concerns over China's influence. Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg     Like Balance of Power? Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters.   You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022