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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| No Stranger to Asia, Biden Deploys Political Experience | No Stranger to Asia, Biden Deploys Political Experience |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — Greeting Chinese leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. reminded them that he had first been there in 1979, as a young senator, to meet Deng Xiaoping, the reformist Chinese leader. He told President Xi Jinping, 11 years his junior, that he had met enough world leaders to take their measure. | SEOUL, South Korea — Greeting Chinese leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. reminded them that he had first been there in 1979, as a young senator, to meet Deng Xiaoping, the reformist Chinese leader. He told President Xi Jinping, 11 years his junior, that he had met enough world leaders to take their measure. |
| The message was anything but subtle: Joe Biden was not born yesterday, and he is no stranger to Asia. Given the tension, finger-pointing and mutual suspicions that he confronted on every stop of his weeklong tour of the region, Mr. Biden’s political instincts, honed over four decades of experience, came in particularly handy this week. | |
| At times, traveling from Japan to China and finally to South Korea on Friday, the vice president seemed less a diplomat or grand strategist than a kindly but stern uncle, called in to smooth ruffled feathers and instruct Asia’s leaders to stop quarreling with one another. | At times, traveling from Japan to China and finally to South Korea on Friday, the vice president seemed less a diplomat or grand strategist than a kindly but stern uncle, called in to smooth ruffled feathers and instruct Asia’s leaders to stop quarreling with one another. |
| Seeking to cool an escalating dispute between China and Japan about an air defense zone created by Beijing over contested waters, Mr. Biden was practical. He backed Japan, America’s ally, with strong words while warning China not to scramble fighter jets in the airspace, even as he tacitly conceded that Beijing would never roll back the measure. | Seeking to cool an escalating dispute between China and Japan about an air defense zone created by Beijing over contested waters, Mr. Biden was practical. He backed Japan, America’s ally, with strong words while warning China not to scramble fighter jets in the airspace, even as he tacitly conceded that Beijing would never roll back the measure. |
| Seeking to quell a resurgence of historic animosities, Mr. Biden played emissary from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan to the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, who is angry about statements Mr. Abe made that were interpreted here as an attempt to diminish Japan’s responsibility for atrocities during World War II. | Seeking to quell a resurgence of historic animosities, Mr. Biden played emissary from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan to the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, who is angry about statements Mr. Abe made that were interpreted here as an attempt to diminish Japan’s responsibility for atrocities during World War II. |
| “The good thing about Biden is that his direct style leaves no doubts in Asia about U.S. concerns and wants in a way that a more diplomatic Obama might not,” said Victor Cha, an adviser on North Korea to President George W. Bush who teaches at Georgetown University. | “The good thing about Biden is that his direct style leaves no doubts in Asia about U.S. concerns and wants in a way that a more diplomatic Obama might not,” said Victor Cha, an adviser on North Korea to President George W. Bush who teaches at Georgetown University. |
| Mr. Biden’s personal diplomacy is unlikely to prevent future flare-ups. South Korea is considering plans to expand its own air defense zone, in response to the one declared by Beijing in the East China Sea. It would overlap with those of China and Japan, suggesting that the sea will continue to be an arena for disputes between these uneasy neighbors. | Mr. Biden’s personal diplomacy is unlikely to prevent future flare-ups. South Korea is considering plans to expand its own air defense zone, in response to the one declared by Beijing in the East China Sea. It would overlap with those of China and Japan, suggesting that the sea will continue to be an arena for disputes between these uneasy neighbors. |
| When Mr. Biden appealed to Ms. Park to repair the rift with Japan, she replied that the Japanese needed to regain the trust of Koreans by taking “sincere measures” to alter the perception that Japan wants to glorify its wartime history, not repent for it. | When Mr. Biden appealed to Ms. Park to repair the rift with Japan, she replied that the Japanese needed to regain the trust of Koreans by taking “sincere measures” to alter the perception that Japan wants to glorify its wartime history, not repent for it. |
| If nothing else, Mr. Biden’s visibility — on what has easily been his most newsworthy vice-presidential trip — demonstrates that the United States remains a pivotal player in the Pacific Basin, its security umbrella giving Japan and South Korea comfort in the face of a rising China that is flexing its military muscles against its neighbors. | If nothing else, Mr. Biden’s visibility — on what has easily been his most newsworthy vice-presidential trip — demonstrates that the United States remains a pivotal player in the Pacific Basin, its security umbrella giving Japan and South Korea comfort in the face of a rising China that is flexing its military muscles against its neighbors. |
| The vice president may have also breathed some life into the Obama administration’s strategic pivot to Asia, which has languished in recent months as Secretary of State John Kerry has been preoccupied by the Middle East and President Obama canceled a trip to the region because of the government shutdown. | |
| Mr. Biden did his best work behind closed doors. His only major speech, delivered here on Friday, mixed homespun Biden aphorisms with familiar diplomatic language, and broke little new ground. He did make a brief allusion to the feud between Japan and South Korea, which is complicating America’s outreach. | Mr. Biden did his best work behind closed doors. His only major speech, delivered here on Friday, mixed homespun Biden aphorisms with familiar diplomatic language, and broke little new ground. He did make a brief allusion to the feud between Japan and South Korea, which is complicating America’s outreach. |
| Without providing many details, Mr. Biden told a university audience that the United States was redoubling, not retreating from, its economic, political and military presence. “President Obama is absolutely committed to rebalance,” he said to the polite crowd of 1,500. “No one should underestimate or question our staying power.” | Without providing many details, Mr. Biden told a university audience that the United States was redoubling, not retreating from, its economic, political and military presence. “President Obama is absolutely committed to rebalance,” he said to the polite crowd of 1,500. “No one should underestimate or question our staying power.” |
| He ticked off the three elements of the pivot: shoring up Cold War-era alliances; reviving America’s role in Southeast Asia; and building a relationship with China that can weather disputes. Of the three, it is clear that Mr. Biden is most drawn to China. At a meeting with Vice President Li Yuanchao, he referred to the Beijing-Washington axis as the “central, sort of, organizing principle” of international relations. | He ticked off the three elements of the pivot: shoring up Cold War-era alliances; reviving America’s role in Southeast Asia; and building a relationship with China that can weather disputes. Of the three, it is clear that Mr. Biden is most drawn to China. At a meeting with Vice President Li Yuanchao, he referred to the Beijing-Washington axis as the “central, sort of, organizing principle” of international relations. |
| Some of that may stem from Mr. Biden’s personal ties to Mr. Xi, a former vice president, which have deepened over the course of lengthy reciprocal visits to China and the United States into something quite unusual for world leaders, particularly two who are now of unequal rank. | Some of that may stem from Mr. Biden’s personal ties to Mr. Xi, a former vice president, which have deepened over the course of lengthy reciprocal visits to China and the United States into something quite unusual for world leaders, particularly two who are now of unequal rank. |
| Mr. Xi spent five hours with Mr. Biden, an extraordinary time commitment by the supreme leader of a country that is stickler for protocol. Aides to Mr. Biden described a politician-to-politician exchange in which he challenged Mr. Xi to move faster with economic reforms, warned him on the treatment of foreign journalists, and told him bluntly that the United States intended to behave as if China’s air defense zone did not exist. | Mr. Xi spent five hours with Mr. Biden, an extraordinary time commitment by the supreme leader of a country that is stickler for protocol. Aides to Mr. Biden described a politician-to-politician exchange in which he challenged Mr. Xi to move faster with economic reforms, warned him on the treatment of foreign journalists, and told him bluntly that the United States intended to behave as if China’s air defense zone did not exist. |
| “The Obama administration decided almost two years ago to try to establish a strong relationship between the then-vice presidents,” said Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a former China adviser in the Clinton administration who is now at the Brookings Institution. “This effort has proven to be both very successful and very important.” | “The Obama administration decided almost two years ago to try to establish a strong relationship between the then-vice presidents,” said Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a former China adviser in the Clinton administration who is now at the Brookings Institution. “This effort has proven to be both very successful and very important.” |
| Mr. Biden, American officials said, made progress in persuading China to consider installing a hotline with Japan to prevent miscommunication in the East China Sea that could lead to hostilities. They also detected a greater willingness on Mr. Xi’s part to embrace a strategy of pressure and dialogue to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. | Mr. Biden, American officials said, made progress in persuading China to consider installing a hotline with Japan to prevent miscommunication in the East China Sea that could lead to hostilities. They also detected a greater willingness on Mr. Xi’s part to embrace a strategy of pressure and dialogue to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. |
| There were clear limits to Mr. Biden’s approach. Mr. Xi robustly defended China’s air defense zone and brushed aside the vice president’s appeal on behalf of correspondents who may soon be forced to leave China because of unwelcome news coverage. | There were clear limits to Mr. Biden’s approach. Mr. Xi robustly defended China’s air defense zone and brushed aside the vice president’s appeal on behalf of correspondents who may soon be forced to leave China because of unwelcome news coverage. |
| But after a week of hectic diplomacy, with plenty of opportunities to get on the wrong foot, Mr. Biden accomplished a valuable goal. “The objective,” Mr. Lieberthal said, “has been to make China a central focus of the pivot without making China into the bull’s-eye.” | But after a week of hectic diplomacy, with plenty of opportunities to get on the wrong foot, Mr. Biden accomplished a valuable goal. “The objective,” Mr. Lieberthal said, “has been to make China a central focus of the pivot without making China into the bull’s-eye.” |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: |
| Correction: December 6, 2013 | Correction: December 6, 2013 |
An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s speech at a university in Seoul. He did in fact make a brief, indirect reference to the feud between Japan and South Korea; it is not the case that he made no reference. | An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s speech at a university in Seoul. He did in fact make a brief, indirect reference to the feud between Japan and South Korea; it is not the case that he made no reference. |