US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday unveiled plans for military cooperation and projects ranging from missiles to moon landings, strengthening their alliance with an eye on countering China and Russia.
A joint news conference at the White House reflected the growing importance of Japan on the world stage and to the US, as the two leaders weighed in on Gaza and Israel, Ukraine and Russia, North Korea and other world flashpoints.
“This is the most significant upgrade in our alliance since it was first established,” Biden said after about two hours of talks that focused on the restive Indo-Pacific region, and China’s actions.
Photo: Bloomberg
The US and its allies, including Japan, have been bolstering their militaries to counter what they see as a growing threat from China in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and to deter any attempt to seize Taiwan.
Biden said their militaries would cooperate with a joint command structure and they would, together with Australia, develop a new air missile defense network.
The two leaders also announced that Japanese astronauts are to participate in NASA moon missions.
Overall, the US and Japan have hammered out about 70 agreements on defense cooperation, including moves to upgrade the US military command structure in Japan to make it better able to work with Japanese forces in a crisis.
Japan is taking on a stepped-up global role after a series of security law changes in the past decade that have transformed its pacifist constitution.
Kishida is to address the US Congress today, and join Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr for a meeting expected to focus on Beijing’s South China Sea incursions.
The meeting took place as China steps up pressure on the Philippines in the South China Sea over areas Beijing claims but international law says belongs to the Philippines.
China is attempting to isolate Japan and the Philippines, a US official said.
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.
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