WASHINGTON – United States President Joe Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House yesterday as the Pacific allies seek to bolster cooperation, particularly in defence.
Washington and Tokyo inked an expanded defence partnership on Wednesday with China squarely as the focus of the agreement.
Beijing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, is the “greatest shared strategic challenge” confronting the allies, Anadolu Agency reported.
Biden did not directly mention China in brief Oval Office remarks with Kishida before they began closed-door discussions, but said the US and Japan “have never been closer”, and are working on “modernising our military alliances, building on Japan’s historic increase in defence spending and new national security strategy”.
“The US is fully, thoroughly and completely committed to the alliance,” he said.
“Today I’m looking forward to how we can continue advancing our shared goals and values.”
The president was alluding to Japan’s decision in December to expand its defence capabilities by increasing spending by 20%, and acquiring what Tokyo calls a counterstrike capability in the event that it comes under attack.
In exchange for accepting the largely pacifist document, Washington guaranteed to defend Japanese territory in the event of an attack, and that assurance was expanded on Wednesday to include any attacks in space.
Blinken was slated to sign the accord yesterday.
Kishida, meanwhile, acknowledged the burgeoning alliance saying the allies are “currently facing the most challenging and complex security environment in recent history”.
In addition to space, the new agreement includes the stationing of a new marine regiment in Japan’s southern island of Okinawa and the construction of a new base for US fighter jets on the uninhabited islands of Mageshima in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima.
The US has approximately 50,000 troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security pact. – Bernama, January 14, 2023
