Biden arrived in Tokyo late on Monday. His weeklong trip in East Asia will also take him to China and South Korea.

Experts said that the issue may overshadow the US intention of focusing on economic affairs.

Jin Canrong, a professor of international studies at Renmin University of China, said the absence of a joint statement, which was pursued by Tokyo, showed that Washington is now leading the current situation and is unwilling to be hijacked by the Japanese agenda.

Washington's policy regarding this issue shows its diplomatic pragmatism, Jin said.

"Politically, the White House objects to the zone. Militarily, the Pentagon not only objects to it, but is also trying to seek a breakthrough. But on the civilian level, the US wants to cooperate with China in order to avoid economic damage," he said.

Niu Xinchun, a senior expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that the US and Japan have overlapping interests in terms of their discontent with China's air zone.

"Washington is afraid that its free navigation in the Asia-Pacific region might be affected by the zone. After all, US naval and air forces have enjoyed free passage for the past three decades," Niu said.

"However, Washington disagrees with Tokyo in playing up regional tensions by exaggerating the threat of the zone, which in fact has been an international practice," he added.