President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Thursday and welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, saying “When our countries stand together, we’re stronger” – an indication of how the economic and national security alliance between the two countries has developed.
The US president began his remarks by saying that Kishida said during a January visit to Washington that the world is facing one in all the “most complex” security environments in recent history. “I could not agree with you more,” Biden said.
“We’re very happy that cooperation has developed in leaps and bounds,” Kishida told Biden of Japan-US relations during their meeting ahead of the Group of Seven summit, which begins on Friday.
The hometown of the Kishida family, Hiroshima, will host a gathering of the major industrialized nations known from the G-7.
The motion of Hiroshima, where the United States dropped the first atomic bomb in 1945 during World War II, carries a latest resonance.
America, Japan and their allies are developing a technique on take care of it Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine in addition to concerns over the acceleration of North Korea’s ballistic missile tests and Iran’s nuclear programme.
Biden appears on the world stage attempting to take care of the division in the US on lift debt limit.
He decided to chop short what was imagined to be an eight-day trip to Asia so he could return to Washington to attempt to avoid a potentially catastrophic default in June that might take a toll on the global economy.
It is a drama that shows how domestic US politics can spill over to global forums.
Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said that the Russian invasion is fast approaching and will likely be a big conversation at the G7 summit.
“There will likely be battlefield discussions,” Sullivan said aboard Air Force One, emphasizing that G-7 leaders will work to seal any loopholes in the sanctions in order that their impact might be maximized. “There will likely be discussions on the state of play on sanctions and steps the G-7 will jointly commit to in particular on enforcement.”
Sullivan said Biden and Kishida wish to develop a relationship that has grown over the past two years “in every dimension, be it the military dimension of the alliance, the economic dimension, the recent clean energy deal, the work we do together on economic security.” .
Last 12 months, Biden got here to Tokyo to debate Indo-Pacific strategy and introduce a latest trade framework for the region, while the US president and Kishida attended an 85-minute tea ceremony and seafood dinner.
The president’s first stop in Japan on Thursday was to greet U.S. troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni before heading to Hiroshima for talks with the Japanese prime minister.
Kishida was quick to indicate the risk of Ukraine being invaded by a nuclear Russia in 2022, saying at the time, “Today’s Ukraine may very well be East Asia tomorrow.”
China has declared unrestricted friendship with Russia, increasing trade in a way that has weakened the ability of economic sanctions to limit war.
But the United States and its allies say China has yet to ship military equipment to Russia, an indication that friendship can have limits.
Biden and Kishida even have economic issues to contemplate. The US and Japan have begun to redefine global trade with supply chain resilience and national security in mind.
They recently signed an agreement on critical mineral supply chains. In addition they cooperate in the development of renewable energy sources and cooperate in efforts to limit China’s access to advanced computer chips.
Kishida hopes to debate further strengthening deterrence and response capabilities with Biden in the face of China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, and reaffirm the importance Taiwan Strait for world peace and stability.
China has asserted that a self-governing Taiwan should come under its rule. U.S. officials have been briefed on the possible economic damage brought on by the Taiwan War, which might disrupt shipments of advanced computer chips.
Japan can be keen to debate ways to strengthen the trilateral partnership with the U.S. and Seoul in the wake of the U.S.-South Korea deal in April to strengthen their tools to discourage the risk of a North Korean nuclear attack.
Kishida and Biden will hold a tripartite summit with South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
But Kishida is in a sophisticated position discussing efforts to reply to nuclear threats from North Korea with Japan’s history, which has also called for a world freed from nuclear weapons, said Kan Kimura, a Kobe University professor and South Korea expert.
After World War II, Japan adopted pacifism. The atomic bomb burned Hiroshima, killing 140,000 people and destroying most of the buildings in the river delta. But current conditions are putting Japan’s pacifism and anti-nuclear tradition to the test.
“Kishida is from Hiroshima, a firm believer in the disarmament agenda,” said Christopher Johnstone, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. “In fact, Kishida walks a tightrope. It recognizes the need for the nuclear umbrella, Japan’s reliance on expanded US deterrence – that is more relevant than ever, frankly, in the current security environment.”
There are outstanding issues between the United States and Japan. During a January meeting with Kishida, Biden raised the case of Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis, a US Navy officer seconded to Japan who was sentenced to 3 years in prison last 12 months after pleading guilty to negligently causing the deaths of two Japanese nationals in May 2021, in response to a high administration official.
Alkonis also agreed to pay the victims $1.65 million in damages. His family is demanding his release, claiming he was held pending confession.
An early return to Washington to settle his debt limit means Biden will miss scheduled stops in Papua Latest Guinea and Australia, where he’ll attend a gathering of the so-called Quad partnerships with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan.
A visit to Papua Latest Guinea can be first to a Pacific island country by the incumbent US president.
“The work we want to do bilaterally with Australia and the Pacific Islands is figure that might be done at a later date, while the final stage of negotiating a debt limit or budget can’t be done at a later date,” Sullivan said. he said on Wednesday.