Biden, Japan’s Kishida to meet in Washington on Jan. 13: White House

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington on Jan. 13 to further deepen ties between the two countries, the White House announced Tuesday, saying that they will discuss issues ranging from North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile threats to maintaining peace over Taiwan.

While the two leaders have already held talks multiple times, including in Japan where Biden traveled last year, Kishida’s upcoming trip would be his first visit to the U.S. capital since taking office in October 2021.

The meeting would follow the Japanese government’s decision in December last year to significantly boost defense spending and acquire long-range strike capabilities as part of efforts to increase deterrence amid China’s growing assertiveness and North Korea’s continuing test-firing of missiles.

Biden will reiterate his “full” support for Japan’s recently released National Security Strategy, which marks a major shift in security policy for the key U.S. ally under its postwar pacifist Constitution.

He will also show backing for Japan’s presidency of the Group of Seven this year, and its just-started term as a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Security Council, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Citing how the two countries have worked together over the past year to advance “a free and open Indo-Pacific” and expand cooperation on issues including critical technologies, she said the leaders “will celebrate the unprecedented strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance and will set the course for their partnership in the year ahead.”

Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine and “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” will be among the agendas, according to the statement.

Concerns linger that Taiwan could become a potential military flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific, with China regarding the self-ruled democratic island as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES