Biden, Kishida vow to 'push back' on China
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With a vast agenda, US President Joe Biden and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida hold 80-minute long talks discussing China, Russia, and North Korea.
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US President Joe Biden with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to "push back" against China and condemned the North Korean missile tests during an 80-minute video meeting.
Biden also underlined US commitment to defending Japan and agreed to travel to the island nation in late spring. The visit will be an official visit and would also be for the Quad summit, which includes Australia, India, Japan, and the US.
Biden also backed Japan in its dispute with China over the uninhabited but strategic Senkaku Islands. The White House readout of the call said Biden had "affirmed the United States' unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan, using its full range of capabilities."
Biden and Kishida also discussed North Korea over its missile tests, condemning said launches.
"The two leaders condemned the recent ballistic missile launches," the White House said, while a Japanese readout of the meeting said they described North Korea's activity as "a threat to the peace and stability of Japan, the region and the international community."
They also discussed the rising tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine, saying they were working "closely together to deter Russian aggression."
"Prime Minister Kishida pledged to continue close coordination with the United States, other allies and partners, and the international community on taking strong action in response to any attack," the White House said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Ukraine, accused Russia of planning to reinforce the more than 100,000 troops the West is saying Russia deployed along the Ukrainian border. Blinken alleged that the number could double.
Russia is facing US-European allegations of a military buildup on its shared borders with Ukraine, and the two sides to the row held talks in Geneva to sort out their differences.
Russia insists that it has no intention of attacking any country, seeing the Western accusations as a pretext to deploy more NATO military equipment close to Russia's borders.
Moscow has been demanding a written commitment that Ukraine would never be able to join NATO and that the alliance would not place any military equipment in certain countries in the region surrounding Russia.
The Kremlin sees that it is best for Russian security that the alliance does not expand eastward and that Russia does not have any Western military activity in its vicinity.
