Joe Biden & Fumio Kishida hold bilateral meet; vow to deepen US-Japan ties

US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a bilateral meeting at the White House where they discussed issues related to China, North Korea, and Russia and plans for deterrence in Asia with US troops and missiles. The head of both countries reiterated deepening the relationship and the importance of marinating peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and warned against any use of a nuclear weapon by Russia in Ukraine, as per the released joint statement after the meeting between the two leaders in Washington.

US President Biden and Japan PM Kishida hold bilateral meeting 

"We emphasize that our basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged, and reiterate the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community. We encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues," the White House said in a statement posted on its website. 

Taiwan has been governed independently from China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous country. Notably, the situation around Taiwan escalated after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in early August which angered China. In successive months, France, Japan, and other western countries also sent their delegations to the island, further increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Taking to Twitter, President Biden stated that the Japanese PM has been a committed friend to the US and informed that both countries will continue to work together in the field of Asia-Pacific relations and national security. "Japanese PM Fumio Kishida has been a steadfast ally and friend to the US. It was my pleasure to sit down with him and discuss how we are stepping up together to advance peace, security and prosperity for both our countries, the Indo-Pacific and the world".

As per the White House, Biden praised Japan's new National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Defense Buildup Program. "This investment will bolster security across the Indo-Pacific and beyond and modernize the US-Japan relationship for the 21st century," POTUS further tweeted. "The United States' message is clear: our investment in the US-Japan alliance is paying huge dividends – from national security to economic issues. And it will continue to do so for years to come". 

Biden and Kishida also urged China to do its part to enable public health officials worldwide to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and identify potential new variants by genome sequencing. "We also call on China to report adequate transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data regarding the spread of COVID-19, to enable public health officials around the world to be prepared to reduce the spread and identify any potential new variants," the statement read.