Japan’s Suga tapped as first foreign leader to meet Biden

TOKYO — Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will meet with President Joe Biden in the U.S. as early as the first half of April, for what might be Mr. Biden’s first in-person summit with a foreign leader since his inauguration.

The two leaders are likely to discuss ways to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and realize a “free and open Indo- Pacific,” with China in mind, the Japanese government announced Friday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato announced Mr. Suga’s visit at a news conference Friday morning. The summit agenda is likely to include matters related to the Korean Peninsula and other regional issues, as well as measures against the coronavirus and climate change.

As a precaution against the coronavirus, the Japanese government plans to limit the prime minister’s entourage to 80 to 90 people. All members of the Japanese delegation, including Mr. Suga, will be vaccinated in advance.

U.S. presidents have conventionally chosen the leaders of Canada and Britain as their counterparts for their first summit talks after taking office.

Mr. Biden has made clear his stance to focus on Asia by strengthening the U.S. alliance with countries in the Indo-Pacific region, such as Japan, Australia and India, toward “longterm strategic competition with China.”

Ahead of the summit, the leaders of Japan, the United States, Australia and India were to hold their first meeting online Friday night. Tokyo and Washington are also scheduled to hold talks of their foreign and defense ministers as early as Tuesday. Through such talks, the Japanese and U.S. governments hope to lay the groundwork for the summit in April.