Biden, Kishida tighten military, economic ties to counter China

WASHINGTON — President Joseph R. Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan announced a range of moves Wednesday to further enhance military, economic and other cooperation between the two longtime allies as part of the president’s efforts to counter China’s aggressive actions in the IndoPacific region.

During a pomp-filled ceremony honoring the visiting Japanese prime minister, the president said the United States and Japan would create an expanded defense architecture with Australia, participate in three-way military exercises with Britain and explore ways for Japan to join a US-led coalition with Australia and Britain.

Mr. Biden also announced that the United States would take a Japanese astronaut to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, which would be the first time a nonAmerican has set foot on the moon.

“This is the most significant upgrade of our alliance since it was first established,” Mr. Biden said at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden along with the prime minister.

Mr. Kishida made a point of reaffirming Japan’s “strong support for Ukraine” in its war against Russia, a key priority for Mr. Biden, and framed the European conflict in terms of the precedent it could set in Japan’s neighborhood. “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” Mr. Kishida said.

Biden’s statements Wednesday fit into a long history of US presidents declaring that the US-Japan relationship was the most important bilateral alliance in the world.

In preparation for the state visit, Mr. Biden’s aides described the closer military link as one of the biggest upgrades of the US-Japan Security Treaty, which dates back to early 1960, an Eisenhower-era innovation to turn a former World War II enemy into what later presidents called America’s “biggest aircraft carrier in the Pacific.”

There has always been a bit of hyperbole to the statement. But as the perceived threat from China has grown, Japan has been the linchpin of broader US efforts to unify its separate allies in the region — especially South Korea and the Philippines — into a coordinated force.

The day began with a welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn, where Mr. Biden hailed the relationship between the United States and Japan as a “cornerstone of peace, security, prosperity” and said that President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s promise of an “indestructible partnership” had been achieved.

“Just a few generations ago, our two nations were locked in a devastating conflict,” Mr. Biden said after he and Mr. Kishida watched a procession of US military honor guards upon the prime minister’s arrival at the White House. “It would have been easy to say we remain adversaries. Instead, we made a far better choice: We became the closest of friends.”

The Biden administration signaled the importance of its relationship with Tokyo by holding an official state dinner Wednesday evening in honor of Mr. Kishida, something reserved for America’s closest allies.

The visit comes amid handwringing in Washington and Tokyo over the possibility of a return to power by former President Donald Trump, whose unpredictable foreign policy kept many world leaders on edge. One goal for Mr. Biden, officials said, is to create as much permanence in the Japanese relationship as possible before the election in November.

One administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the upcoming meeting, said there was “anxiety in capitals” around the world, including in Tokyo, about whether Mr. Trump would continue the international engagement that Mr. Biden and prior presidents have embraced. Another official said there was a real risk that Mr. Trump, if reelected, could move to undo what the leaders of the two countries announced Wednesday.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Kishida outlined greater coordination and integration between the military forces of both countries, including the formation of a joint defense council that could support more defense-related exports of equipment produced in Japan. And officials agreed on new cooperation on ventures in space and collaboration between research institutions working on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and clean energy.

“The American alliance system has helped bring peace and stability to the Indo-Pacific for decades, and now we need to update and upgrade that alliance network for the modern age,” said Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. “It goes way beyond security. It’s economics. It’s technology. It’s infrastructure development. And it’s diplomacy. And that’s all going to be on display in the meeting with the prime minister.”