President Joe Biden will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to the White House on Jan. 13, as Japan looks to bolster its defense capabilities amid North Korean missile tests and Chinese military drills that have stoked concern across the Pacific.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to the White House on Jan. 13, as Japan looks to bolster its defense capabilities amid North Korean missile tests and Chinese military drills that have stoked concern across the Pacific.
The leaders will discuss North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“Over the past year, the two leaders have worked closely together to modernize the U.S.-Japan Alliance, expand our cooperation on key issues from climate change to critical technologies including through the Quad, and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific,” she said, referring to a forum of Australia, India, Japan and the US. “President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida will build on these efforts.”
Last year, Kishida announced plans to increase national-security related expenditures to 2% of gross domestic product by fiscal 2027. While Japan is not a member of NATO, that defense spending level would put the country in line with the alliance’s target.
Read more: Japan’s Kishida Orders Defense Spending Hike to 2% of GDP
The meeting with Biden also comes before Japan hosts the Group of Seven summit this May in Hiroshima — and as Japan holds the rotating monthly presidency of the United Nations Security Council.
(Updates with additional details, from fourth paragraph.)
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