Top US officials head to Asia to boost alliances

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin arrived in Tokyo yesterday on their first overseas trip, looking to rally key Asian allies as a bulwark to China. The pair, travelling separately, will meet in Japan for the first leg of their trip, holding talks with their counterparts as well as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. They will both continue on to South Korea, before Defense Secretary Austin heads separately to India and Secretary of State Blinken holds talks back in the United States with Chinese officials. President Joe Biden's team has been deliberately slow to start the usually hectic pace of diplomatic travel that marks a new administration, hoping to set an example discouraging travel during the pandemic.