US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday unveiled plans for military cooperation and projects ranging from missiles to the moon landing, cementing their alliance with an eye on countering China and Russia.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday unveiled plans for military cooperation and projects ranging from missiles to the moon landing, cementing their alliance with an eye on countering China and Russia.
A joint news conference at the White House reflected Japan’s growing importance on the world stage and the United States, as the two leaders weighed in on Gaza and Israel, Ukraine and Russia, North Korea and other world flashpoints.
Biden and Kishida brushed aside the dispute over Nippon Steel’s offer for US Steel, saying the issue was not a major factor in their discussions during a day of White House pomp and pageantry that ended with a lavish state dinner.
“This is the most significant upgrade to our alliance since it was first established,” Biden said after a roughly two-hour conversation focused on the troubled Indo-Pacific region and China’s actions.
The United States and its allies, including Japan, have strengthened their militaries to counter what they see as a growing threat from China in the South China Sea and East China Sea, and to thwart any attempt to seize Taiwan, a self-directed. Island that Beijing considers its own.
Kishida said the two leaders discussed the tense relationship between Taiwan and China, and pledged to uphold international order based on the rule of law. Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently said the intruder outside the island’s “family reunion” in mainland China was not prevented.
“Unilateral attempts to change the status quo through force or coercion are absolutely unacceptable, wherever it may be,” Kishida said. The US and Japan will continue to respond to such actions, including challenges from China, he said.
“Regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine … today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia,” Kishida said.
Biden also pledged to keep the lines of communication open with China and said the US-Japan alliance was defensive in nature. He spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.
The announcements from Biden and Kishida brought the two World War Two foes to the closest cooperation they have had since they became allies decades ago.
Biden said their militaries will work together in a joint command structure and they, along with Australia, will develop a new air missile defense network. The two leaders also announced that Japanese astronauts will participate in NASA’s moon missions.
Overall, the US and Japan hammered out about 70 agreements on defense cooperation, including steps to upgrade the US military command structure in Japan so it can better work with Japanese forces in a crisis.
Japan, often described as the most important US ally in Asia and the largest source of foreign direct investment, is taking a increased global role after a series of security law changes over the past decade that have changed its pacifist constitution.
Kishida will address the US Congress on Thursday and will be joined by Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a meeting expected to focus on Beijing’s South China Sea incursions.
The meeting came as China escalated tensions with the Philippines in the South China Sea over areas claimed by Beijing but which international law says belong to the Philippines.
China is trying to isolate Japan and the Philippines, a US official said. Meeting with the leaders of those two countries this week in Washington, Biden aims to “flip the script and isolate China.”
Fitch cut its outlook on China’s sovereign credit rating to negative on Wednesday, citing risks to public finances as the economy faces increasing uncertainty over its transition to new growth models.
On Thursday, Biden will also hold a bilateral meeting with Marcos, whom he welcomed in Washington last year, before the pair join Kishida for a trilateral summit.
The visit could provide political support to Kishida, who popularity waned at home.
He was greeted by huge chants, with Japanese flags on display across Washington before a lavish state dinner where guests included former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actors that Robert De Niro, of Amazon.com Jeff Bezos and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Musician Paul Simon provided after-dinner entertainment, opening his set with a performance of “Graceland.”
Overshadowing the visit was a controversy over the planned $15 billion takeover of the American steel manufacturer US Steel through Nippon Steel of Japana deal some say is “on life support” after criticism from Biden and former President Donald Trump, his rival in the US election last November.
Kishida, who asked about the deal, said he hoped discussions on it would bear fruit.
“We want to establish this win-win relationship,” he said.
Biden said he stood by his commitment to union workers on the issue.
Japanese concerns also loom that if Trump wins a second term he may demand a deal with China which could damage the region.
