世界各国领导人周四与当选总统乔·拜登就合作应对冠状病毒大流行、气候变化和其他问题进行了交谈，即使他是总统唐纳德·特朗普美国拒绝让步使美国选举后的过渡变得复杂。
在与主要亚洲盟友的对话中，拜登似乎有意缓解他们对华盛顿不那么参与的不确定性，这种不确定性是在特朗普“美国优先”的四年时间里形成的。
一看他们的对话:
韩国:韩国总统文在寅的办公室表示，拜登在14分钟的通话中重申了美国保卫韩国的承诺，并表示他将与首尔密切协调，推动化解与朝鲜的核僵局。
拜登的办公室表示，他表示希望加强美韩联盟，将其作为“印度-太平洋地区安全和繁荣的关键”拜登还赞扬了文在寅在韩国反病毒运动中的成就，并讨论了在全球经济复苏和两国“加强民主的共同利益”方面的合作。
月亮的发言人康敏石说，两位领导人还同意在拜登1月20日就职后“可能很快”会面。
穆恩有着朝韩接触的野心，他帮助特朗普与朝鲜金正恩建立了领导人对领导人的核外交。特朗普与朝鲜的核外交现已因在释放美国领导的对朝鲜的严重制裁和朝鲜的裁军步骤方面的分歧而停滞不前。
但首尔也在努力与一位非常规的美国总统打交道，他认为联盟的价值远不如他的前任。特朗普不断抱怨在韩国派驻2.85万名美国士兵的成本。成本分摊协议于2019年到期，双方未能就替代方案达成一致。
韩国联合通讯社的一篇专栏文章中选举，拜登发誓要加强联盟，而不是“用不计后果的威胁来勒索首尔，让我们撤军。”
澳大利亚:澳大利亚联合国总理斯科特·莫里森说，他邀请拜登明年去澳大利亚庆祝两国共同防御条约70周年。莫里森说，他和拜登在通话中明确表示，他们致力于加强双边联盟。
莫里森对记者说:“我们一致认为，我们和美国之间的联盟没有比现在更关键的时候了，但更广泛地说，我们需要共同努力，特别是我们持有和分享的志同道合的国家和价值观，共同努力促进印度-太平洋地区的和平与稳定。”。
拜登说，他期待着“在许多共同的挑战上”与莫里森密切合作，包括遏制新冠肺炎大流行和防范未来的全球健康威胁;应对气候变化;为全球经济复苏奠定基础;加强民主，维护一个安全和繁荣的印度-太平洋地区。
澳大利亚正在参加与美国的大规模军事演习，日本和印度，这是自2007年以来的首次。
由于担心与中国的关系，澳大利亚在2007年海军演习后退出了一年一度的马拉巴尔演习。但此后，澳大利亚与其最大贸易伙伴之间的关系恶化，北京方面拒绝接听澳大利亚政府部长的电话。
日本:日本首相菅义伟表示，他和拜登在通话中重申了两国联盟的重要性，并同意面对中国日益增长的影响力和朝鲜的核威胁，进一步深化联盟。
菅义伟在与拜登通了大约15分钟电话后对记者说:“我们进行了非常有意义的电话交谈，我将与当选总统拜登合作，推动加强日美联盟的措施。”
拜登的办公室表示，两位领导人“谈到了他们应对气候变化、加强全球民主以及加强美日联盟作为繁荣安全的印度-太平洋地区基石的共同承诺。”
菅义伟说，他告诉拜登，日本希望追求“自由开放的印度-太平洋”，日本一直在与美国一道促进这一愿景，以包括该地区“志同道合”的国家，包括澳大利亚、印度和对中国有共同关切的东南亚国家。
中国在南中国海建造了人工岛并将其军事化，并对该海域几乎所有的主要渔场和水道提出主权要求。日本担心中国对日本控制的尖阁列岛(中国称之为钓鱼岛)的主权主张。
中国否认它是扩张主义者，并表示它只是在捍卫自己的领土权利。
菅义伟说，拜登向他保证，华盛顿致力于在军事冲突的情况下，根据双边安全条约保护日本对尖阁列岛的领土权利。
World leaders talking to Biden about the virus, other issues
World leaders spoke to President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday about cooperating on the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other issues, even as PresidentDonald Trump's refusal to concede complicates the U.S. post-election transition.
In his conversations with key Asian allies, Biden seemed intent on easing their uncertainties about a less-engaged Washington, which built up during the four years of Trump’s “America First” approach.
A look at their conversations:
SOUTH KOREA: The office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Biden during their 14-minute call reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and said he would closely coordinate with Seoul in a push to defuse a nuclear standoff with North Korea.
Biden’s office said he expressed his desire to strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance as a “linchpin of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.” Biden also praised Moon for South Korea’s gains in its anti-virus campaign and discussed cooperation over a global economic recovery and the countries' “mutual interest in strengthening democracy," his office said.
Kang Min-seok, Moon’s spokesperson, said the leaders also agreed to meet “possibly soon” after Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Moon, who has ambitions for inter-Korean engagement, helped set up Trump’s leader-to-leader nuclear diplomacy with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, which has now stalled over disagreements in exchanging a release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the North and the North’s disarmament steps.
But Seoul also struggled to deal with an unconventional U.S. president who saw much less value in alliances than his predecessors did. Trump has constantly complained about the cost of stationing 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. A cost-sharing agreement expired in 2019 and the two sides have failed to agree on a replacement.
In an op-ed to South Korea’s Yonhap News ahead of theelection, Biden vowed to strengthen the alliance, rather than “extorting Seoul with reckless threats to remove our troops.”
AUSTRALIA:Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he invited Biden to Australia next year to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the countries’ shared defense treaty. Morrison said he and Biden during their call made clear their commitment to strengthening the bilateral alliance.
“We agreed that there was no more critical time for both this alliance between ourselves and the United States, but, more broadly, the working together, especially of like-minded countries and values that we hold and share, working together to promote peace, and stability of course in the Indo-Pacific region,” Morrison told reporters.
Biden said he looked forward to working closely Morrison “on many common challenges, including containing the COVID-19 pandemic and guarding against future global health threats; confronting climate change; laying the groundwork for the global economic recovery; strengthening democracy, and maintaining a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” according to his office.
Australia is taking part in large-scale military exercises with the United States,Japanand India this month for the first time since 2007.
Australia withdrew from the annual Exercise Malabar after the 2007 naval drills over concerns about relations with China. But relations between Australia and its biggest trading partner have since deteriorated, with Beijing refusing to take calls from Australian government ministers.
JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he and Biden during their call reaffirmed the importance of their countries’ alliances and agreed to further deepen it in face of China’s growing influence and North Korea’s nuclear threat.
“We had a very meaningful telephone conversation as I will work with President-elect Biden to push forward measures to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Suga told reporters after speaking to Biden on the phone for about 15 minutes.
Biden’s office said the leaders “spoke about their shared commitment to tackle climate change, strengthen democracy around the world, and reinforce the U.S.-Japan alliance as the cornerstone of a prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific region.”
Suga said he told Biden that Japan wants to pursue the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” a vision that it has been promoting with the United States to include “like-minded” countries in the region, including Australia, India and Southeast Asian countries that share concerns about China.
China has built and militarized man-made islands in the South China Sea and is pressing its claim to virtually all of the sea’s key fisheries and waterways. Japan is concerned about China’s claim to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, called Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea.
China has denied it is expansionist and said it is only defending its territorial rights.
Suga said Biden gave him reassurance that Washington is committed to protecting Japan’s territorial rights to the Senkaku under the bilateral security pact in case of military clash.
