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WATCH: Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida hold joint news conference
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden praised Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “bold leadership” on a series of global crises as he welcomed the Japanese leader to the White House on Wednesday for wide-ranging talks that touched on the delicate security situation in the Pacific, the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict and more.
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Kishida’s official visit, which will include a glitzy state dinner at the White House on Wednesday evening, completes the Democratic administration’s feting of the leaders of the Quad, the informal partnership among the U.S., Japan, Australia and India that the White House has focused on elevating since Biden took office. As administration officials put it, they saved the most pivotal relationship for last.
“The unbreakable alliance between Japan and the United States is the cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” Biden said as he welcomed Kishida to a pomp filled arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn.
READ MORE: Biden calls Netanyahu’s approach to war in Gaza a mistake, deepening rift between the two allies
The visit also marks the realization of Japan’s transformation from regional player to that of global influencer — with senior Biden administration officials noting appreciatively there is little the U.S. does across the globe that Tokyo doesn’t support. They pointed to Japan’s eagerness to take a leading role in trying to bolster Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and with the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“The cooperation between our countries bound together by common values and commitment has become a global one with the scope and depth covering outer space and the deep sea,” Kishida said. “Today the world faces more challenges and difficulties than ever before. Japan will join hands with our American friends and together we will lead the way in tackling the challenges of the Indo-Pacific region and the world, while tirelessly developing the relationship.”
Kishida also announced that Japan is giving 250 cherry trees to the U.S. to mark America’s coming 250th birthday in 2026.
Biden and Kishida are both confronting difficult political headwinds on the home front while trying to navigate increasingly complicated problems on the global stage. Like Biden, Kishida has been dogged by low approval ratings for much of his tenure.
Biden’s reelection effort has been shadowed by an American electorate anxious about inflation, unease among some Democrats over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, and concerns about whether at 81 he’s too old to serve another four years. The U.S. economy got another blip of dour data on Wednesday with the government reporting that consumer inflation ticked up last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items.
Kishida, meanwhile, is dealing with a Japanese economy that slipped to the world’s fourth-largest after it contracted in the last quarter of 2023 and fell behind Germany. Polls in Japan show that support for Kishida, who was elected in 2021, has plunged as he deals with a political funds corruption scandal within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
“For President Biden, this is, of course, a chance to highlight and cement progress in the relationship, the most important bilateral alliance in the Indo-Pacific. It’s a chance to sustain urgency and momentum in this relationship,” said Christopher Johnstone, a former national security official in the Biden administration who is now the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “For Kishida, it’s a chance to showcase his ties to the U.S., to prop up support at home.”
There are differences in the U.S.-Japan relationship. The visit comes after Biden announced last month that he opposes the planned sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan. Biden argued in announcing his opposition that the U.S. needs to “maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steelworkers.”
READ MORE: What to expect from Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s U.S. visit
At their Rose Garden press conference following their private Oval Office talks, Biden and Kishida sidestepped addressing in detail their discussion about the prospective U.S. Steel acquisition. Biden said he stood by his commitment to American workers and fostering the Japanese alliance. Kishida noted the extensive investment both nations have made into each other’s economy and his hope for creating more “win-win” situations.
The leaders also announced plans to upgrade U.S.-Japan military relations, with both sides looking to tighten cooperation amid concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program and China’s increasing military assertiveness in the Pacific. Biden said that the structural updates would help set a “new benchmark for our military cooperation across a range of capabilities.”
Kishida and Biden also confirmed Japan’s participation in NASA’s Artemis moon program as well as its contribution of a moon rover developed by Toyota Motor Corp. and the inclusion of two Japanese astronauts in the mission, including one who will land on the moon.
Biden heaped praise on Japan for its significant increase in defense spending and has tightened cooperation on economic and security matters throughout Kishida’s tenure.
Japan was quick to step up in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, join the U.S. and other Western allies in mounting aggressive sanctions on Moscow, and Japanese automakers Mazda, Toyota and Nissan announced their withdrawal from Russia.
Tokyo has been one of the largest donors to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion, and Japan has surged its defense spending amid concern about China’s military assertiveness.
As part of its increased defense, Japan agreed to acquire U.S.-made Tomahawks and other long-range cruise missiles that can hit targets in China or North Korea under a more offensive security strategy. Japan, Britain and Italy also began a collaboration on a next-generation jet fighter project.
“The prime minister is a visionary and courageous leader,” Biden said. “When Russia began its brutal invasion of Ukraine two years ago, he did not hesitate to condemn sanctions and isolate Russia and provide billions assistance to Ukraine.”
Biden also credited Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for working to repair frosty relations between Tokyo and Seoul. Relations have rapidly thawed over the last two years amid shared concerns about China’s assertiveness in the Pacific and North Korea’s persistent nuclear threats. Biden last year hosted the two leaders at the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains.
The Japan-South Korea relationship is a delicate one because of differing views of World War II history and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula.
Kishida will remain in Washington on Thursday to take part in a U.S.-Japan-Philippines summit, at which China’s increasing aggressive action in the region will loom large over the talks.
Relations between China and the Philippines have been repeatedly tested by skirmishes involving the two nations’ coast guard vessels in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese coast guard ships also regularly approach disputed Japanese-controlled East China Sea islands near Taiwan.
“The main intent of this trilateral agreement is for us to be able to continue to flourish, to be able to help one another, and … to keep the peace in the South China Sea and the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters before departing for Washington on Wednesday.
AP writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this story.
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Biden and Kishida Agree to Tighten Military and Economic Ties to Counter China
President Biden is hosting Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, for a state visit as part of a broad diplomatic outreach.
By Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear
Reporting from the White House Rose Garden
President Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan announced a range of moves on Wednesday to further enhance military, economic and other cooperation between the two longtime allies as part of the president’s efforts to counter China’s aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific region.
During a pomp-filled ceremony honoring the visiting Japanese prime minister, the president said the United States and Japan would create an expanded defense architecture with Australia, participate in three-way military exercises with Britain and explore ways for Japan to join a U.S.-led coalition with Australia and Britain.
Mr. Biden also announced that the United States would take a Japanese astronaut to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, which would be the first time a non-American has set foot on the moon.
“This is the most significant upgrade of our alliance since it was first established,” Mr. Biden said at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden along with the prime minister.
Mr. Kishida made a point of reaffirming Japan’s “strong support for Ukraine” in its war against Russia, a key priority for Mr. Biden, and framed the European conflict in terms of the precedent it could set in Japan’s neighborhood. “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” Mr. Kishida said.
Biden Hosts Japan’s Prime Minister at the White House
President biden called the united states and japan “the closest of friends” during a welcoming ceremony for prime minister fumio kishida..
Just a few generations ago, our two nations were locked in a devastating conflict. It would have been easy to say we remain adversaries. Instead, we made a far better choice: We became the closest of friends. Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Kishida, welcome back to the White House.
Mr. Biden’s statements on Wednesday fit into a long history of American presidents declaring that the U.S.-Japan relationship was the most important bilateral alliance in the world.
In preparation for the state visit, Mr. Biden’s aides described the closer military link as one of the biggest upgrades of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which dates back to early 1960, an Eisenhower-era innovation to turn a former World War II enemy into what later presidents called America’s “biggest aircraft carrier in the Pacific.”
There has always been a bit of hyperbole to the statement. But as the perceived threat from China has grown, Japan has been the linchpin of broader U.S. efforts to unify its separate allies in the region — especially South Korea and the Philippines — into a coordinated force.
The prime minister’s visit comes at the same time Mr. Biden is strengthening the American partnership with the Philippines, which also finds itself the target of a mounting Chinese military presence in the South China Sea. On Thursday, Mr. Biden and Mr. Kishida will meet with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines to demonstrate their joint commitment.
The day began with a welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn, where Mr. Biden hailed the relationship between the United States and Japan as a “cornerstone of peace, security, prosperity” and said that President Eisenhower’s promise of an “indestructible partnership” had been achieved.
“Just a few generations ago, our two nations were locked in a devastating conflict,” Mr. Biden said after he and Mr. Kishida watched a procession of U.S. military honor guards upon the prime minister’s arrival at the White House. “It would have been easy to say we remain adversaries. Instead, we made a far better choice: We became the closest of friends.”
The Biden administration signaled the importance of its relationship with Tokyo by holding an official state dinner on Wednesday evening in honor of Mr. Kishida, something reserved for America’s closest allies.
The visit comes amid hand-wringing in Washington and Tokyo over the possibility of a return to power by former President Donald J. Trump, whose unpredictable foreign policy kept many world leaders on edge. One goal for Mr. Biden, officials said, is to create as much permanence in the Japanese relationship as possible before the election in November.
One administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the upcoming meeting, said there was “anxiety in capitals” around the world, including in Tokyo, about whether Mr. Trump would continue the international engagement that Mr. Biden and prior presidents have embraced. Another official said there was a real risk that Mr. Trump, if re-elected, could move to undo what the leaders of the two countries announced on Wednesday.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Kishida outlined greater coordination and integration between the military forces of both countries, including the formation of a joint defense council that could support more defense-related exports of equipment produced in Japan. And officials agreed on new cooperation on ventures in space and collaboration between research institutions working on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and clean energy.
“The American alliance system has helped bring peace and stability to the Indo-Pacific for decades, and now we need to update and upgrade that alliance network for the modern age,” said Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. “It goes way beyond security. It’s economics. It’s technology. It’s infrastructure development. And it’s diplomacy. And that’s all going to be on display in the meeting with the prime minister.”
Rahm Emanuel, the United States ambassador to Japan, called the meeting a chance for the two nations to go beyond America’s work to protect Japan and to “write the first chapter of the next era” of cooperation as they work together to project power throughout the region.
That would be a more far-reaching relationship than the United States has historically had with Japan, which for decades after World War II restricted its spending on defense and its engagement around the world.
That began to change during the past several years, under Mr. Kishida, who pushed to expand defense spending and participate in global efforts like the sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Administration officials said Japan’s new willingness to become a full partner with the United States on the global stage has taken the alliance between the two countries to a new level.
But there are still some tensions. The two leaders had to dance carefully around Mr. Biden’s reluctance to let a Japanese firm buy a storied U.S. steel maker. That struck national security experts as strange, since such deals are usually blocked only when they give critical technology to adversaries, not allies.
“The idea that you block the acquisition of a company by one of your closest allies makes no sense in alliance-building terms,” said Joseph S. Nye Jr., an emeritus professor at Harvard who designed many of the defense cooperation strategies with Japan in the Clinton administration.
The meeting on Thursday between Mr. Biden, Mr. Kishida and Mr. Marcos represents a more aggressive effort by the United States and its allies to isolate China — rather than allowing the Chinese leadership to intimidate and isolate its neighbors in the South China Sea and elsewhere.
The Thursday meeting will be the first time that the leaders of the three nations have met together, officials said.
“We’re continuing to deepen our cooperation with our closest partners to ensure what we’ve talked about many times from this podium and elsewhere: a free, open and prosperous Indo Pacific,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday.
Mr. Sullivan declined to say whether Mr. Biden would raise with Mr. Kishida the issue of plans by Nippon Steel, a Japanese corporation, to acquire U.S. Steel , the struggling manufacturer based in Pittsburgh. Mr. Biden has publicly said that he will have “the backs” of union steel workers, indicating his opposition to the deal.
“You guys all know Joe Biden,” he said. “You’ve seen Joe Biden. He’s been very clear that he’s going to stand up for American workers. He’s going to defend your interests. He’s also been very clear that he is going to make sure that the U.S.-Japan alliance is the strongest it’s ever been.”
But administration officials said later on Tuesday that they did not think the subject would come up between the two leaders on Wednesday because both men already know the position of the other.
Mr. Biden greeted Mr. Kishida on Tuesday evening for a brief arrival at the White House. Later, the two leaders and their wives went to BlackSalt, an upscale seafood restaurant in Washington, for a more casual dinner ahead of the formal events on Wednesday.
White House officials said the couples had exchanged a series of gifts on Tuesday evening, a diplomatic tradition for such events. The official gift from Mr. Biden and Jill Biden, the first lady, was a three-legged table that was handmade by a Japanese American-owned company in Pennsylvania.
Other gifts included a lithograph and a two-volume LP set autographed by Billy Joel and a vintage vinyl record collection. Dr. Biden gave Ms. Kishida a framed painting of the Yoshino cherry tree that the two had planted on the South Lawn last spring, and a soccer ball signed by the U.S. women’s national soccer team and the Japanese women’s team.
At the state dinner, the White House was scheduled to serve a meal that would include house-cured salmon and dry-aged rib-eye steak with blistered shishito pepper butter.
David E. Sanger contributed reporting.
An earlier version of this article misstated which countries belong to a security pact that Japan may join. Its members are the United States, Australia and Britain, not the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Because of an editing error, an earlier version of a home page headline with this article misstated the surname of Japan’s prime minister. He is Fumio Kishida, not Fushida.
When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at [email protected] . Learn more
Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker
Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Biden and his administration. He has reported on politics for more than 30 years. More about Michael D. Shear
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