Joe Biden in the Far East

By Bill Cisowski

Vice President Biden, Shinzo Abe, Xi Jinping and Lee Myung-bak

This week, Vice President Joe Biden is off to Asia, playing the role of diplomat.  Certainly not the role suited for Washington's classic political lightweight.  According to the A.P., Biden plans to meet with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.  We wonder, will the on-going Fukushima crisis be mentioned? 

The tsunami-damaged reactor has been spewing millions of gallons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean for months now with no end in sight.  Without a solution to the crisis, and in what seems like a panic move to prevent information being spread, the Japanese government has introduced "The State Secrets Protection Bill".  Thousands in Tokyo protested the bill last week in fear that the government may hide vital information from them.  The bill, created by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, seeks to impose stricter penalties on sensitive information that is made public.

Later in the week, Biden will also get together with Chinese President Xi Jinping.  Again, we wonder, will the Vice President have any remark over China implementing its new air defense zone?  As tensions build between China and Japan, Biden will  make his dutiful showing.  His next stop will be a meeting with South Korea's president Lee Myung-bak where he is expected to make a speech touting U.S,-Korean relations and then receive a briefing on North Korea's nuclear status. Business as usual as the world melts down.