China, North Korea and Iran are part of an "axis of autocrats" and the United States and its allies are the "thin blue line" protecting democracy, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Japan said on Friday in a parting shot at Beijing.
Rahm Emanuel has been a sharp critic of China's economic and geopolitical strategies during his three years in Japan.
"The world is shrinking, consolidating, and shaping, and the United States has to respond to that," the Democrat told reporters. "The United States is that thin blue line between autocracy, where might equals right, and rules, laws, principles and values."
Rahm, 65, described an "axis of autocrats" -- Russia along with China, Iran and North Korea, all three of whom he said had taken steps to support Moscow's war in Ukraine.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war, although it remains a close political and economic ally of Russia.
"The Indo-Pacific is a home game for China and an away game for the United States. With our allies, we level the playing field," he said.
Moves to boost U.S.-Japan defense ties, and information sharing with South Korea on recent North Korean missile launches, are among examples he said showed that the "credibility of our deterrence in this region is strengthened".
"Part of the entire strategy of China is to isolate a country in this region and use their full force and power to isolate that country and limit and restrict their both sovereignty and independence," Emanuel said.
But as America and its allies display increasing "strength in numbers... then the isolated party is China".
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, has named businessman George Glass as Rahm's replacement.
Rahm said he had no plans to change tack under Trump.
"I will engage, because I think whether domestically, internationally or whatever, ideas and principles are worth fighting about," he said.
© 2025 AFP
29 Comments
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TaiwanIsNotChina
Absolutely correct. We need to watch out for the Dictatorship Cabal, as I refer to it.
Tokyo Guy
A nice but of snark aimed at the incoming admin, who clearly want to emulate at least two of those countries.
Tokyo Guy
/bit/ of snark.
Tamarama
Unfortunately for him, his incoming President is currently verbally threatening a host of other nations with either economic or military force for hegemonic purposes, so whilst this might be the spin, the reality is something else altogether. Imagine how the Danes are feeling right now.
And here's the regional spin designed to keep the US embedded militarily in Asia, and to keep Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Phillipines etc buying US made weapons.
Absolute nonsense.
deanzaZZR
Blinken/Emanuel/Burns have been an embarrassment to the art of diplomacy.
Perhaps Rahm missed this article from Nikkei only a few days ago.
Japan lays groundwork for state visit by China's Xi
"The Japanese government is expected to invite Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Japan next month, seeking to pave the way for a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping."
stickman1760
Axis of autocrats? Add Trump to the list. But we only have Dems to thanks for that. People like Rahm who hid the fact that Biden was unable to go on.
elephant200
Trump is ruinning your everything before sworn in as you stated. His recent rhetorics expansionism of acquiring Greenland,the Panama canal or maybe annex of Canada with both economic or military force. He is drawing anger from around the world and U.S. is a hateful country from everyone now !
elephant200
@TaiwanisChina: We need to watch out for the Dictatorship Cabal.
You better watch out that mad dog inside the White house now. He is back and he can be very nasty !
Fos
People should celebrate and instead media continue to give him space.
He is the essence of what American state department is about: double standards and sheer hypocrisy. Nobody raised the question about Washington military support of Israel in the tragic catastrophe of the the Middle East
kibousha
Funny how Taiwan soldiers were the ones dying defending China against Imperial Japan, while CCP goons were hiding the mountains.
Now, Japanese people and Taiwan are best friends against thugs that only know how to steal tech and people's hard work.
Too bad, Japanese politicians love CCP more than their country.
Fos
kibousha
Funny how the US industrial military complex is producing manipulative narrative every day with no history evidence to justify their multibillion dollars shift to Asia, after (what looks like) loosing their marketshare of weapons shipping in Eastern Europe.
Even more humorous giving space to Emanuel point of views, so we better stop here.
But, hey, nice try! :)
Blacklabel
This guy been “outgoing” since October. Can he just leave already?
OssanAmerica
No, J-politicians love money, not the CCP.
stormcrow
Emanuel for President!
Run, Rahm, Run!
TaiwanIsNotChina
Nobody could claim that he is a softie.
JJE
This guy has no sense of decency...
deanzaZZR
Funny how your take is 100% inaccurate. If you were a Taiwanese soldier at that time you served in the IJA as former President Lee Te-hui did as a Lieutenant. The Nationalist forces on the mainland did a much better job at getting killed than doing the killing it must be said. .
Fos
deanzaZZR
You can tell he is a newcomer, copying and pasting inaccurate US military dispatches. Probably the last hiring from Jake Sullivan, hoping they will confirm him on the 20th of January.
TaiwanIsNotChina
A great man.
You have to fight the war to have casualties in the war.
deanzaZZR
Han Chinese from Taiwan in the IJA serving as intelligence officers and spies on the mainland to kill fellow Chinese suggests otherwise.
BertieWooster
I wonder if anybody actually believes this.
bass4funk
Relax, he would never use force, stop listening to the media left propaganda.
And? Ask yourself this, if the world were to do anything that would upset the US, would they care what or how we think?
Depends on who you're talking about.
No, not hateful.
wallace
Trump said he would not rule out military intervention in Greenland and the Panama Canal.
https://youtu.be/qByPI6pbjfI?si=8br1Vpb62IitTeUj
TaiwanIsNotChina
Doesn't really matter what he did in his youth when he led Taiwan to be the example that Chinese can live without the CCP.
Agent_Neo
During World War II, it was not Mao Zedong's Communist Party but Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang who fought the Japanese army in the mainland of China.
The Communist Party was merely hiding behind the Kuomintang and running around the Chinese mainland.
Taiwanese people are not cowards like Koreans, but great warriors who resisted the Japanese army to the end. After being colonized by Japan, they fought to the end against the US and the Chinese Communist Party together with the Japanese army, and the Japanese people have not forgotten that they suffered many casualties.
It must be very encouraging for Japanese people to have proud Taiwanese people as friends. I hope that their relationship with Japan will continue in the future.
But the Chinese Communist Party, you're no good. It's okay to have superficial relations in international diplomacy, but there can be no friendship with a country that you can't trust or rely on.
Most Japanese people think that America is still better.
The Chinese Communist Party gaining hegemony in Asia is a nightmare for Asian countries.
Peter14
That "axis of autocrats" is about to include the United States. Sadly the "thin blue line" is about to get much thinner.
If I was a superstitious person, I would say that whats happening in LA right now is a portent for the future disasters Trump will bring to America and the world.
TokyoLiving
Nice try clown..
Well, your time is over, bye bye..
Send the next clown!!..
TokyoLiving
Watch out your new president first..
He's the real danger to democracy..
theFu
How's that democracy working inside China? Last time I checked, the CCP was still rounding up anyone who was pro-democracy anywhere they could, even outside the mainland. They've gone as far as getting pro-democracy Chinese in other countries onto flights with claims their families needed them to return to China. Then they'd return and disappear.