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| Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden at the White House yesterday (Apr 16). Photo by Mandel Ngan via AFP) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] The United States and Japan vowed on Friday (Apr 16) to stand firm together against an assertive China and to step up cooperation on climate change and next-generation technology as President Joe Biden made his first summit a show of alliance unity.
Waiting nearly three months for his first foreign guest due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Biden told Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga that Japan enjoyed "our iron-clad support" on security issues and beyond. "We're going to work together to prove that democracies can still compete and win in the 21st century," Biden, affectionately calling the Japanese leader "Yoshi", told a socially distanced news conference in the White House Rose Garden. A joint statement called for "candid conversations" with China and did not hold back, raising concerns over Beijing's growing maritime moves, its clampdowns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and growing tension over Taiwan.
The statement reiterated that the US-Japan Security Treaty covers the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands - one of several areas in the region where Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyu, has increasingly shown its might. The United States and Japan "recognize the importance of deterrence to maintain peace and stability in the region", the statement said. Suga echoed Biden's themes as he described the US-Japan alliance as the "foundation of peace and stability" in the region.
