Risk of US Default Weakening Dominance?..."Power Not Undermined," Direct Rebuttal

White House has strongly refuted analyses suggesting that President Joe Biden’s decision to shorten his scheduled Asia tour due to debt negotiations would negatively impact U.S. diplomacy and security.

Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, said on the 21st (local time) that the reduction of Biden’s Asia trip due to the domestic issue of debt ceiling negotiations does not diminish America’s power in the international community.

Accompanying President Biden on his visit to Japan, Sullivan appeared on CNN that day and responded “not at all” to the question of whether the shortening of Biden’s Asia tour undermines the message that the U.S. is a reliable and stable partner.

Sullivan said, “We concluded the G7 summit, and under the leadership of the U.S. and President Biden, we produced a series of outcomes on China, clean energy, the war in Ukraine, countering economic coercion, and protecting the most sensitive technologies.” He emphasized, “This is quite a historic outcome because it is true that President Biden is actually leading on the world stage.”

He added, “Last night, including the Quad (security consultative group of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India) summit, I was in Japan with some of our closest Asian allies such as South Korea, and I also met with the Australian Prime Minister. So, looking at the entire past three days, it reflects President Biden leading on the world stage.”

He continued, “People understand democracy and that there are moments in domestic politics when you have to look at the home front. President Biden was able to remain engaged to lead on the world stage while also ensuring that the U.S. does not fall into default.”

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

President Biden, who attended the major G7 summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, for three days starting on the 19th, canceled his planned visit to Papua New Guinea on the 22nd and the trip to Australia on the 24th for the Quad summit (U.S., Japan, Australia, India) at the last minute to focus on debt ceiling negotiations amid the looming risk of default.

In response, major media outlets such as Bloomberg in the U.S. pointed out that the Papua New Guinea visit and the Quad summit were long-prepared schedules aimed at countering China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific region, and that this variable could lead to a loss of trust among allies who must confront China’s offensives and even deteriorate relations.

Warnings were also raised that the debt ceiling standoff and the possibility of default could combine with geopolitical crises. Russia and China are expected to conduct information operations to spread confusion about default within the U.S., and if default materializes, there are concerns that attempts will be made to shake the status of U.S. leadership and institutions on the world stage.

Sullivan said that President Biden repeatedly apologized to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for canceling the Australia visit and sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Papua New Guinea in his place.

Regarding Biden’s approval of the plan to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, he said, “The critical systems for Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia are not aircraft but tanks, artillery systems, HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), and massive ammunition.” He added, “The U.S. is working to deliver everything Ukraine needs to start its counteroffensive in a timely manner.”

He said, “Now Ukraine can be expected to have the long-term capability to defend itself and repel the Russian invasion. Fourth-generation fighters, Western fighters, and F-16s are related to that fight. That is why the President told the G7 leaders that he supports pilot training.”

On whether the U.S. will provide F-16s, he said, “Considering the numbers available from European allies’ inventories and the many other priorities for systems to provide Ukraine based on the funds Congress has given us, we might focus more on third-party transfers, but the President has not made a final decision.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.