U.S., Japan leaders discuss China in first call
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday used their first formal meeting to discuss concerns about China’s growing military assertiveness that’s causing increasing disquiet in the Pacific.
Kishida said the two leaders spent a “significant amount” of their 80-minute call on issues surrounding China, including shared concerns about China’s increasing aggression toward Taiwan. China claims self-governing Taiwan as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. In recent months, China has stepped up military exercises near Taiwan, frequently sending warplanes near the island’s airspace.
Biden and Kishida also discussed the situations in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang province. Biden has repeatedly called out Beijing over its crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong and forced labor practices targeting China’s Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
“President Biden and I were able to exchange views frankly, in a very calm and quiet manner, about how Japan and the United States together cooperate and lead the international society, which I believe will lead to further strengthening of the Japan-u.s. alliance,” Kishida said after the meeting.
The White House said the leaders also spoke about opportunities to enhance economic ties between the two nations, launching a new “2 plus 2” dialogue focused on addressing economic issues, ranging from supply chain challenges and investment in key technologies to further cooperation on trade issues. Japan also expressed support for the Biden administration’s proposed Indo-pacific Economic Framework, and pledged to work to build support for the initiative in the region.
Biden accepted Kishida’s invitation to visit Japan later this spring for an official visit and to attend this year’s Quad Summit, the meeting held between the leaders of Japan, the United States, Australia and India.
Japan remains concerned about China’s intentions in the
South China Sea, where it has stepped up its military presence in recent years, and the East China Sea, where there is a long-running dispute about a group of uninhabited islets administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.
Kishida said after the meeting that he expressed his determination to drastically strengthen Japan’s defense power while Biden spoke of the U.S. commitment to abiding by the 1960 Japan-u.s. security treaty and made it clear it covers the Japanese-controlled disputed islands of Senkaku, which China refers to as Diaoyu.
On Thursday, in preparation for the leaders’ call, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his Japanese counterpart, Takeo Akiba, held their own call to discuss North Korea, China and “the importance of solidarity in signaling to Moscow the strong, united response that would result from any attack” on Ukraine, according to the White House.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also held virtual talks this month with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, where China’s military maneuvering and North Korea’s nuclear program were discussed.