U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will showcase a strong and growing partnership during a White House state visit on Wednesday focused on joint defence cooperation to deter an aggressive China.
The summit begins with an official welcoming ceremony on the White House South Lawn, leading into a private meeting. This will be succeeded by a joint press conference scheduled in the Rose Garden, a state dinner, and a performance by musician Paul Simon.
Kishida will address the U.S. Congress on Thursday, becoming the second Japanese leader to do so after Shinzo Abe, who spoke in 2015, and was later assassinated. Following his speech, Kishida will join a meeting with Biden and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with discussions anticipated to focus on Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea.
The U.S. and Japan have finalised approximately 70 agreements on defence cooperation, which include enhancing the U.S. military command structure in Japan for better coordination with Japanese forces in crisis situations.
Biden and Kishida are also expected to announce steps to allow more joint development of military and defence equipment.
The two leaders will announce plans for a joint lunar space mission and projects to work together on artificial intelligence research, U.S. officials said.
Japan will now be a “full global partner” with the United States, with influence far beyond its region and into Europe and the Middle East, a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Tuesday, summing up the deals.
China is attempting to isolate Japan and the Philippines. By meeting the leaders of those two nations this week in Washington, Biden is aiming to “flip the script and isolate China,” the official said.
On Thursday, Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Marcos, whom he welcomed in Washington just last year, before the pair will join Kishida for a trilateral summit.
Kishida’s visit to the U.S. could lift his political standing back in Japan, where his approval ratings have been falling. He’s receiving a warm welcome, evidenced by the Japanese flags waving throughout Washington. However, his visit is clouded by the contentious $15 billion bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy American steel company U.S. Steel. This deal, criticised by both Biden and Donald Trump, his opponent in the upcoming U.S. election, is reportedly struggling to survive. Additionally, there’s worry in Japan that a second Trump presidency might lead to a U.S.-China agreement potentially upsetting the regional balance.
With Inputs from Reuters
