US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida walk to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, Jan 13, 2023. (TJ KIRKPATRICK/POOL VIA REUTERS)
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden told Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday the United States was "fully, thoroughly, completely" committed to Japan's defense and praised Tokyo's security build up, saying the nations had never been closer.
Kishida is in Washington on the last stop in a tour of the G7 industrial powers and has been seeking to bolster long-standing alliances.
In a meeting at the White House, Biden called it a "remarkable moment" in the US-Japan alliance. He said the two countries had never been closer.
We are modernizing our military alliances, building on Japan's historic increase in defense spending, and new national security strategy.
Joe Biden, US President
"Let me be crystal clear: The United States is fully, thoroughly, completely committed to the alliance, and importantly … to the defense of Japan," he said, while also thanking Kishida for strong leadership in working closely on technology and economic issues.
"We are modernizing our military alliances, building on Japan's historic increase in defense spending, and new national security strategy," Biden said.
Kishida thanked Biden for US work on regional security and said Tokyo had formulated its new defense strategy released last month.
He said the two countries shared fundamental values of democracy and the rule of law "and the role that we are to play is becoming even greater."
Dramatic military change
Japan last month announced its biggest military build-up since World War Two – a dramatic departure from seven decades of pacifism.
"Biden commended Japan’s bold leadership in fundamentally reinforcing its defense capabilities and strengthening diplomatic efforts," according to a joint US-Japan statement issued after the meeting.
US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers met on Wednesday and announced increased security cooperation following nearly two years of talks and the US officials praised Tokyo's military buildup plans.
Japan's military reform plan will see it double defense spending to 2 percent of GDP and procure missiles that can strike ships or land-based targets 1,000 km away.
US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, Jan 13, 2023. (JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS)
Semiconductors
The joint statement said the US and Japan "will sharpen our shared edge on economic security, including protection and promotion of critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors."
Kishida, Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later signed an agreement on peaceful space exploration at NASA’s headquarters in Washington.
Blinken said this would take space cooperation "to new heights" and strengthen the partnership in areas including research into space technology and transportation, robotic lunar surface missions, climate-related missions, and "our shared ambition to see a Japanese astronaut on the lunar surface”.
At the ceremony, Kishida said the US-Japan alliance was "stronger than ever."
As well as chairing the G7, Japan took up a two-year term on the UN Security Council on Jan 1 and holds the rotating monthly presidency of the 15-member body for January.
Biden and Kishida committed to "strengthening vital trilateral cooperation" among the US, Japan and South Korea, said the joint statement.
Kishida's visit follows one by Biden to Tokyo in May and a meeting between the two at a November regional summit in Cambodia.