Japan PM to visit White House on Friday
2023.01.13 02:39
Japan PM to visit White House on Friday
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden will greet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. Washington will likely applaud Tokyo’s historic plans for a large-scale military buildup in response to shared concerns about China.
As the final stop on a tour of the industrial powers of the G7, Kishida is in Washington. His visit comes after Biden’s trip to Tokyo in May and their meeting in Cambodia in November on the sidelines of a regional summit.
On Wednesday, the foreign and defense ministers of the United States and Japan met to discuss Tokyo’s lauded military buildup plans and increased security cooperation.
“A vision of a modernized alliance postured to prevail in a new era of strategic competition” was described in a joint statement from both sides, and Kurt Campbell, the White House Indo-Pacific coordinator, referred to it as “one of the most consequential engagements between our two countries in decades.”
According to the statement, “by positioning more versatile, resilient, and mobile forces with increased intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, anti-ship, and transportation capabilities,” the forward posture of U.S. forces in Japan should be improved “given a severely contested environment.”
The two sides agreed to extend their common defense treaty to include space, and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced plans to deploy a Marine Littoral Regiment in Japan, which would bring significant capabilities such as anti-ship missiles.
After nearly a year of talks, they came to an agreement. Concerns about Chinese actions in the region prompted Japan to announce its largest military buildup since World War II last month, a significant departure from its seven decades of pacifism.
Japan will purchase missiles that can strike ships or land-based targets 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away under that five-year plan, which will double defense spending to 2% of GDP.
Kishida’s White House visit, according to Christopher Johnstone, head of the Japan program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and the former East Asia director at the U.S. National Security Council, could give him a boost in domestic politics.
He stated that it would be “an opportunity to highlight the significant, really unprecedented decisions Japan announced” and the firm support of the United States for them, in addition to “calling attention to the role that Prime Minister Kishida himself played in getting them done.”
According to a senior administration official who spoke with Reuters, Biden and Kishida are anticipated to talk about security issues and the global economy. The official also stated that their discussions are likely to include control of semiconductor-related exports to China after Washington imposed severe restrictions on those exports last year.
Japan is currently in charge of the G7. On January 1, it also took up a two-year seat on the United Nations Security Council and is currently in charge of the 15-member body in a rotating monthly presidency.
“Reflecting some anxiety that the war in Ukraine as well as competition with China may be causing Washington to discount Pyongyang’s increasing tempo of missile launches — which directly threaten Japan,” said Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia under former President Barack Obama.
Kishida has stated that he supports Biden’s effort to impose export restrictions on China in order to restrict its access to advanced semiconductors. However, he hasn’t agreed to match the US’s October-imposed severe restrictions on chip manufacturing equipment exports.
The official from the United States stated that Washington collaborates closely with Japan on the issue and believes they share a similar vision, despite their distinct legal structures. He said that the controls would be more effective if more countries and important players supported them.
He referred to the reforms to Japan’s defense as “really, really significant.” He stated that they were significant for the U.S.-Japan alliance, regional and strategic considerations, and domestic political considerations.
“What we want to do is really highlight the breadth and depth of how much the relationship has changed, how valuable this is for the United States, and how much better we are working together than we have ever worked together,”
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