The Camp David summit is our top story
this hour.
President Joe Biden
working to strengthen ties
with Japan and South Korea
as the three countries
face urgent threats from China.
And North Korea.
CNN's Arlette
Science is at Camp
David and CNN's Will Ripley, who covers
Asia, is standing by.
Arlette, to you first.
How is the president today
touting the
results of this historic summit
Well, Alex, President Biden is hailing
this moment
as the historic step,
one that is opening the next chapter,
the next era of cooperation
between the U.S., South Korea and Japan.
It was never a given
that this trilateral partnership,
whatever come to fruition,
there have been decades of tension
and mistrust
between South Korea and Japan.
But President Biden
had worked those relationships
on the bilateral level
and then also trilateral
with all three leaders
trying to push them to this moment
in part
due to the provocative behavior
they've seen from North Korea,
but also concerns about China's
rising influence in the region.
But listen to President Biden
as he took a victory lap
about this moment.
If I seem
like I'm happiest because I am.
This has been a great, great meeting.
Today.
We've made history
with the first ever standalone summit
between the leaders
of our three countries
as well as our commitment
to meet together on the leader
level annually,
not just this year,
not next year, forever.
And the president
praised the political courage,
he called it, of both President
Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida
in coming to this agreement
with the US and putting aside
some of their many differences
now in this Camp David summit.
They came up with a few deliverables
in part
to strengthen
their defense cooperation
that will include annual military drills
as well as cooperating
when it comes to ballistic
missile drills.
They also have talked about intelligence
sharing agreements,
and they're trying to make this
an annual summit.
Now, one thing that is key here
is that
this agreement does not amount
to what you we've seen from Article
five of Neda,
which is an attack on
one, is an attack on all.
Instead,
what they have
pledged here is a commitment to consult,
arranging a way
for these leaders to talk
when any security threats
are posed against any one country.
Part of that
includes setting up a three way hotline
for these leaders to talk
of course, Camp
David is a
has a long history
with high stakes diplomacy.
And President
Biden today
is hoping to make his mark with this
historic first trilateral summit.
And although it does seem
that President Biden
is being very careful
about what he says about China,
yeah, he really is.
President Biden said that this summit
was not about China,
but simply put,
so much of the president's efforts
when it comes to rallying allies
because actually in the Indo-Pacific
is about finding ways to counter China.
Now, he did say that
China came up in their discussions
and of course, that they have concerns
about some of China's
ability to remove in the region.
But the president has gone
to great lengths
to try to say this wasn't
specifically about China.
We have heard criticism from China
who has characterized this type of summit
as a mini naito.
That is something
that national security adviser
Jake Sullivan very forcefully
pushed back against.
And at the very end,
President Biden did answer a question
that I had asked
and he told me that he is hoping
to continue his conversation
with Chinese President
Xi this coming fall.
All right.
Early signs of Camp David
on a very significant hour.
Thank you very much.
Let's now bring in CNN
senior international correspondent.
Will Ripley.
Will, you've done
such extensive reporting
both from North Korea and China.
So how are those countries watching
this summit
Well, they're not happy about it.
I mean, just the fact that
Japan and South Korea,
which have this long historical
animosity, are now getting this close
and working so well
together, is a sign of how concerned
the U.S.
and its allies are in the region
about North Korea
and about China for different reasons.
North Korea
has been launching a barrage of missiles.
There's word
that they're developing
their nuclear program
at a faster pace than many analysts ever
thought was possible.
And we could actually see
a North Korean ICBM launch.
South Korea says
at some point in the coming days.
North Korea,
known to launch missiles
as a way to express
displeasure and also, of course,
gained valuable intelligence
about how to get their ICBMs
to be more accurate
and to travel further.
Of course,
the ICBMs
that North Korea is building now.
Most experts agree
could probably hit pretty much anywhere
in the world, theoretically,
with their striking range,
certainly anywhere in the mainland
United States.
China expressing its displeasure in a
not as dramatic away as North
Korea is believed to be preparing
to do with this possible ICBM launch.
They put out a statement
at their foreign ministry
earlier in the overnight hours here
in the U.S.,
the daytime hours out in Asia.
And it said in part
from the foreign ministry spokesperson
attempts to cobble together
various exclusionary groupings
and bring block confrontation
and military blocs into the Asia-Pacific,
are not going to get support
and will only be met
with vigilance and opposition
from regional countries.
And we have seen in turn,
a flurry of military activity
in this region.
You have Russian and Chinese warships
in the East China Sea.
You have Japan scrambling fighter jets.
You have North Korea
scrambling fighter jets in response
to what they say were U.S.
planes encroaching
upon their exclusive economic zone.
So certainly
a troubling and tense time right now
in the entire region.
And, of course,
both sides have different reasons
why they're suspicious of the other.
Alex,
you have some very high stakes activity
out there.
But Will,
can you give us some more context
on that growing alignment
now between China,
North Korea and Russia?
Well, think about it this way.
North Korea
hermetically sealed their borders
at the beginning of the pandemic,
and most foreigners are still forbidden
from even getting close to North Korea.
And, of course, North
Koreans forbidden from leaving
That's starting to change.
But the first foreign groups
that were welcomed into Pyongyang
just last month
on the 27th of July
in North Korea's armistice celebrations,
it was a very high level
delegation from China,
and it was Russia's
defense minister, Sergei Shoigu.
So now
Kim Jong un met
both of these delegations.
He gave them tours of his new weapons
that he's developing.
He showed them the ICBMs.
He showed them
brand new North
Korean drones
that very closely resemble U.S.
military models, analysts say.
And there is word either
through North Korean state media
or other sources
that Russia and North Korea in particular
have been talking about increasing
their military cooperation,
including potentially,
Alex, North
Korea
selling weapons
to Russia, perhaps secretly to
to fuel their war in Ukraine,
although there's no hard evidence
about that.
And also potentially
this is most troubling to the U.S..
Alex,
Russia potentially providing
missile technology
and nuclear technology
to the North Koreans,
passing them even more information
so they can grow their program faster.
Global ramifications.
Will Ripley,
thanks so much
for all of your terrific reporting.
Joining me
now is the top Democrat on the House
China Select Committee, Congressman
Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Congressman,
thank you so much for being with us.
We've got lots to discuss
on this really important day.
I want to first
get your reaction
to the outcomes of today's
summit at Camp David.
Why is it so important
to create this partnership which
in effect counters China
It's a big deal.
And I think that
for those of us, I think
perhaps on both sides of the aisle
who have wanted to see Japan and South
Korea come closer together,
this is a watershed moment.
Obviously,
there's the annual
trilateral leader summit,
the annual military exercises
and a hotline that's been set up.
But this is very important
because the CCP, the Chinese Communist
Party, has always
included as part of its strategy
in terms of its military
and economic aggression,
playing Japan and South Korea
off of each other,
knowing about their strained past.
So for them to come together
and a united front with us
and our other partners and friends
is very important
in establishing a rules
based order in the Indo-Pacific region.
Congressman, as we were just
talking about with our lead,
the president has been downplaying
how much this summit is about China.
The other two leaders did as well.
Would you like to have seen
more forceful language
in light
of some of the growing aggression
that we're seeing from Beijing?
No, not necessarily.
And I think that
I think
that their comments about
the CCP and China are appropriate.
Remember, there are other threats as well
that we have to worry about.
We have to worry about
or be concerned about North Korea.
Also,
we have to continue to remember that
South Korea and Japan
are important partners with regard to the
criminal invasion of Ukraine
by the Russians.
And finally,
you know,
South Korea
and Japan are very important
and in our strategy
with regard to supply chains
and making them more resilient.
So one of the major commitments
here is what they're calling a commitment
to consult each other
when there are
these emergencies in the Pacific.
The administration is insisting that in
no way
this is the beginning
of a Pacific version of Naito,
but do you think that China is
going to see it that way?
I don't know.
But I think
what's really important
about this commitment to consult
is that at least now
South Korea
and Japan,
along with us,
will consult with each other
in a coordinated fashion
with regard to any attack on any of the
any of these three countries.
And when you couple
this particular trilateral engagement
with what we've done
and the Biden administration has done
with regard to office
as well as the Quad,
you're starting to see
a lot of our friends
and partners and allies in the region
come together.
And again,
that is something that
the Chinese communist
party is very, very concerned about,
as they should be,
because they like to see division
between us and our friends and partners
as they continue
with their military
and economic aggression.
So in light of that, in light of the U.S.
growing closer to all those countries
that you mentioned, all those alliances
that you just mentioned,
how do you see China
responding, particularly
when it comes to those tensions
around Taiwan in the South China Sea?
Well, I think
they're going to continue
with their rhetoric
And I think that we saw
some interesting comments
come from Wang Yi, their
foreign minister, today.
But in terms of other measures,
I'm not sure what they would do
Certainly, they could
potentially consider economic steps
or retaliatory measures.
But then again,
you know,
the Chinese economy is in a tailspin
right now.
You know,
they have 22% youth unemployment.
They're on the verge of deflation.
And, of course,
there's a demographic freefall
where their population is falling.
And so given all that,
I think any types
of economic retaliatory measures
would be counterproductive
and in helping their own economy.
Congressman,
we just have a couple of moments left,
but I have to ask you,
in light of the fact
that this presidential campaign
is fully underway,
do you think that this agreement
today at Camp
David is concrete enough to last
if there were a different administration
a Republican administration elected
in 20, 24?
Yes, I think that this is something
that Democrats
and Republicans
would welcome,
and I think
that it's something to sing about
I remember
President Yoon saying
American Pie at the last summit
out of jubilation out there.
It's the last
I mean,
I think it'll be interesting
to see
if they have a trio
singing together,
but there's something that I
think everyone can applaud.