Suga-Biden summit date pushed back to April 16

The first face-to-face meeting between Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden will be held on April 16 in Washington, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato announced on Friday at a press conference. Tokyo and Washington had been coordinating to hold the meeting around April 9, but it was moved back by a week.

Suga is expected to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Biden took office in January. Preparations are being made for Suga to visit the United States from April 15 to 18, according to government sources.

Regarding the revision to Suga’s U.S. trip schedule, Kato said: “We had been coordinating for [a meeting date in] the first half of April. Since we need to take all possible measures for the meeting, it was decided that it would be held on the 16th.”

According to a senior Foreign Ministry official, the main reason for the schedule change was due to the U.S. side requiring time to put in place preventive measures against novel coronavirus infections for participants in the summit meeting and related events.

At the meeting, the two leaders are expected to reconfirm the strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance and cooperation toward the realization of a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Suga said in a TV Tokyo program on April 1, “The fact that I am to be received as the first foreign leader is proof that Japan is considered extremely important.”

INFRASTRUCTURE COOPERATION

The Japanese and U.S. governments are likely to agree on strengthening cooperation over infrastructure projects in other countries at the planned meeting between Suga and Biden in Washington, according to Japanese government sources.

The focus will be on building next-generation infrastructure such as 5G communications networks and power generation facilities that will lead to decarbonization. Taking into consideration China’s Belt and Road initiative to create a huge economic bloc, Tokyo and Washington aim to take the lead in infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific region.

The agreement is expected to be included in the joint statement to be released after the summit meeting.

Biden made clear his stance to counter China in a March 31 speech on his infrastructure plan, saying, “It’s going to boost America’s innovative edge in markets where global leadership is up for grabs — markets like battery technology, biotechnology, computer chips, clean energy — in competition with China in particular.”

Climate change is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion at the summit, aiming at promoting decarbonization through the spread of infrastructure, utilizing Japanese and U.S. technologies.

In the field of 5G, where the United States and China compete for supremacy, Tokyo and Washington are expected to strengthen cooperation on extending equipment for the construction of safe networks.

The two nations will also look into the joint development of “smart cities,” a next-generation urban model that makes use of cutting-edge information and communication technologies.

Suga has been working on exports of transportation and communication infrastructures to Southeast Asia since the time he was a chief cabinet secretary. By putting Japan’s “high-quality infrastructure” at the forefront, Japan has been trying to differentiate itself from China, which sells its infrastructure at low prices. Tokyo and Washington will further promote such efforts.

Suga and Biden’s joint statement is likely to mention topics including the establishment of supply chains for rare earths and pharmaceuticals that do not rely on specific countries, in addition to the application of Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which stipulates U.S. obligations to defend Japan, to the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. (April 3)