Biden welcomes Japan PM for state visit
US President Joe Biden has welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the White House, kicking off a state visit.
A gala dinner and Rose Garden press conference were on the menu for the formal part of the visit yesterday, in a sign of the value Washington places on an increasingly self-confident Japan.
The two leaders are expected to unveil plans to restructure the US military command in Japan -- the biggest upgrade to defense cooperation since the 1960s -- to make them more responsive against threats in the Asia-pacific region.
Kishida, 66, the first Japanese leader to receive full honors from a US president since Shinzo Abe in 2015, arrived on Tuesday night at the White House with his wife Yuko.
Biden, 81, and First Lady Jill Biden then took the Japanese couple to a swanky restaurant in Washington's upscale Georgetown area.
Jill Biden said the visit would "celebrate the flourishing friendship between the United States and Japan."
"Our nations are partners in a world where we choose creation over destruction, peace over bloodshed, and democracy over autocracy," she told reporters during a preview of yesterday's state dinner.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the two leaders would "announce measures to enhance security cooperation, to enable greater coordination and integration of our forces."
Today Biden will host the first ever trilateral summit between Japan, the Philippines and the United States to further expand alliances.
But hanging over the US and Japanese leaders will be the thorny topic of a Japanese takeover of US Steel, a deal opposed
by Biden as he faces a tough reelection battle against protectionist former president Donald Trump.
Our nations are partners in a world where we choose creation over destruction, peace over bloodshed, and democracy over autocracy."
'Momentous changes'
Jill Biden
The formal summit kicked off yesterday with a grand welcome including military bands, followed by an Oval Office meeting and a joint news conference between Biden and Kishida in the Rose Garden.
Today, Kishida will address both houses of Congress before he and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos convene with Biden.
They are the latest Asia-pacific allies to be hosted by Biden, who was joined by Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David last August.
According to media reports, Biden and Kishida could agree to the biggest upgrade in Us-japan command and control structures in decades.
This would make their two militaries more nimble in a crisis.
The US has 54,000 military personnel in Japan who must report back to Indo-pacific Command in Hawaii, around 6,500km away and 19 hours behind, for joint operation matters.
The two countries may also agree to allow large US warships to undergo repairs at private shipyards in Japan, and to joint production of defence equipment, according to media reports.
Staunchly pacifist for decades, Japan has in recent years made "some of the most significant, momentous changes" since World War II, US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said ahead of the visit.