WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will showcase a strong and growing partnership during a White House state visit on Wednesday (Apr 10) focused on joint defence cooperation to deter China.
The summit kicks off with an official arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn, followed by a closed-door meeting, a joint news conference planned for the Rose Garden, a state dinner and a performance by musician Paul Simon.
Kishida will address the US Congress on Thursday and join Biden and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr for a meeting expected to focus on Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea.
The US and Japan have hammered out about 70 agreements on defence 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.
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, US 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.
Source: CNA
