Good news, reproductive rights advocates and neo-Malthusian environmentalists! Vice President Joe Biden has no problem with the government forcibly sterilizing people and compelling abortions. From his remarks at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China yesterday discussing the U.S. debt: 
 
 What we ended up doing is setting up a system whereby we did cut by $1.2 trillion upfront, the deficit over the next 10 years. And we set up a group of senators that have to come up with another $1.2 to $1.7 trillion in savings or automatically there will be cuts that go into effect in January to get those savings. So the savings will be accomplished. But as I was talking to some of your leaders, you share a similar concern here in China. You have no safety net. Your policy has been one which I fully understand -- I’m not second-guessing -- of one child per family. The result being that you’re in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable. 
 
 
 
 So hopefully we can act in a way on a problem that's much less severe than yours, and maybe we can learn together from how we can do that. 
 
 It's perfectly understandable that you let the government tell you how many children you could have if that helps get the debt under control, right? Republicans better get together and compromise on the president's grand bargain sometime soon, or else. ||||| U.S. Vice President Joe Biden expressed admiration for the stoicism of the Japanese people in their efforts to recover from the tsunami, as he met Tuesday with Japan's prime minister on the third and final leg of an Asian tour. 
 
 U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, is greeted by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan prior to their meeting at Kan's official residence in Tokyo Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye) (Associated Press) 
 
 U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, is greeted by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan prior to their meeting at Kan's official residence in Tokyo Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye) (Associated Press) 
 
 U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, third from left, faces with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, fourth from right, at the start of their meeting at Kan's official residence in Tokyo Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanked Biden for the United States' "enormous assistance" after the disaster, when among other things American military personnel helped reopen the damaged airport at Sendai, where Biden was to give a speech later Tuesday. He also was scheduled to visit evacuees living in temporary housing along the devastated northeastern coastline. 
 
 "Looking at it from afar, it was absolutely breathtaking, heartbreaking," Biden said of the March 11 disaster, which left just over 20,000 people dead and missing. He said the American public was impressed with the stoicism and resolve of the Japanese people, calling it a model for the whole world. 
 
 Biden also reaffirmed the countries' alliance and economic ties. Under a security pact, nearly 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan. 
 
 "We are a Pacific power. You are a Pacific power," he said. "You are our ally, both economically and politically." 
 
 Referring to the natural disaster in Japan and budget problems in the U.S., Biden said, "There are voices in the world who are counting us out. They are making a very bad bet." 
 
 Kan said Biden's trip _ his first to Asia as vice president _ demonstrates that "Japan is open for business." 
 
 Biden is spending two days in Japan, the final stop of an eight-day trip to Asia that already took him to China and Mongolia. 
 
 His visit to Japan comes at a time of widespread speculation that Kan will resign in coming weeks or even days over his administration's perceived lack of leadership in handling the triple crisis _ the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, located between Sendai and Tokyo. 
 
 More broadly, Biden's visit comes amid China's rising economic, military and political clout that is somewhat overshadowing Japan, which is wrestling with a two-decade economic slump, bulging deficit and aging population _ and now recovery from a threefold disaster. 
 
 In China, Biden had extensive face-time with the country's expected future leader, Xi Jinping, and delivered a strong message of the mutual interdependence between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest economies. 
 
 Biden also made the case for continued U.S. economic vitality despite current budget woes and sought to reassure China's leaders and ordinary citizens about the safety of their assets in the United States following the downgrading of America's credit rating. 
 
 On Wednesday, Biden plans to visit a U.S. air force base west of Tokyo to thank military and civilian personnel for helping with relief and recovery efforts in the wake of the disaster.
– Joe Biden was mere hours away from wrapping up a gaffe-free four-day visit to China when he said he fully understood China's one-child policy. The vice president, discussing the US debt during a Q&A session at a university in Chengdu, said: "You have no safety net. Your policy has been one which I fully understand—I’m not second-guessing—of one child per family. The result being that you’re in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable." Critics were quick to point out that the policy Biden "fully understands" includes forced sterilization and abortions, the Weekly Standard notes. House Speaker John Boehner responded that he was "deeply troubled" by the comment, and that "the Obama administration should be focusing on jobs for the American people, not encouraging foreign governments to utilize abortion as a means of population and deficit control.” Biden's China visit was followed by a trip to Mongolia yesterday and he is now in Japan. He met with Japan's prime minister today and plans to visit an American base tomorrow to thank personnel for their help with relief efforts after the quake and tsunami in March, the AP reports.