Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, have announced a new era of military cooperation during the pomp and pageantry of a White House state visit aimed at countering China.
The US president said the two nations’ forces will cooperate on a joint command structure and, along with Australia, develop a new air missile defence network.
“We’re increasing the interoperability and planning of our militaries so they can work together in a seamless and effective way,” Biden said at a joint press conference with Kishida in the bright sunshine of the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday. “This is the most significant upgrade in our alliance since it was first established.
“I’m also pleased to announce that for the first time, Japan and the United States and Australia will create a networked system of air, missile and defence architecture. We’re also looking forward to standing up a trilateral military exercise with Japan and the United Kingdom.”
The president, born a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that prompted US entry into the second world war, said the agreements set a “new benchmark for our military cooperation”.
The move appears aimed at making US and Japanese forces more nimble in the event of a crisis such as a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Biden insisted that it was “purely defensive” and “not aimed at any one nation or a threat to the region”.
Kishida told reporters that the two leaders had discussed tense relations between Taiwan and China and pledged to uphold international order based on the rule of law. “We confirmed that unilateral attempts to change status quo by force or coercion is absolutely unacceptable,” Kishida said.
The US and Japan will continue to respond to such actions, including challenges from China, he added. “Regarding Russia’s aggression of Ukraine, based on a recognition that Ukraine today may be east Asia tomorrow.”
The leaders also announced deals for technology, including artificial intelligence and the economy, along with a joint partnership to accelerate development and commercialisation of nuclear fusion.
Biden said they had a shared goal that a Japanese person will be the first non-American to walk on the moon, flying on a US mission due to take place in a few years’ time.
Japan is taking on a more prominent global role after a series of security law changes in the past decade that have transformed its pacifist constitution. Biden also noted that Japan is the top foreign investor in the US.
Overall the US and Japan have struck about 70 agreements on defence cooperation, including moves to upgrade the US military command structure in Japan, the biggest such change since the 1960s.
The two sides will set up a forum for the co-development and co-production of missiles and maintenance of US warships and aircraft, as well as a working group for fighter pilot training and co-development and co-production of jet trainers.
A joint statement said the US’s Aukus defence partnership with Australia and Britain is considering cooperation with Japan on advanced capabilities and technologies including quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology.
Asked if there was a path for Japan to become a full member of Aukus, Kishida replied: “We want to contribute to the peace and stability of the region and therefore we have consistently supported Aukus … But for Japan, to have a direct cooperation with Aukus, nothing has been decided at this moment.”
Kishida is the first Japanese leader to get a US state visit since Shinzo Abe in 2015 and only the fifth world leader to receive one since Biden took office in 2021. The dinner was held in the grand East Room of the White House, decorated by fans and cherry blossom branches.
White House chefs served a meal featuring Japanese flavors, starting with house-cured salmon, followed by dry-aged ribeye with wasabi sauce, and salted caramel pistachio cake with cherry ice-cream. After dinner, singer Paul Simon performed hits while playing guitar, including Graceland and Slip Slidin’ Away. Simon is one of Jill Biden’s favourite artists, according to the White House.
At the dinner, Kishida quoted from the science fiction series Star Trek, telling guests “I would like to propose a toast to our voyage to the frontier of the Japan-US relationship with this word: boldly go,” a phrase from the iconic opening monologue of the TV series.
Other notable guests at the dinner included Bill and Hillary Clinton and actor Robert De Niro.
Kishida will address Congress on Thursday and join Biden and the Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, for a meeting expected to focus on Beijing’s South China Sea incursions.
Biden also expressed support for Japan’s attempts to set up a leader-to-leader summit with North Korea. “We welcome the opportunity of our allies to initiate dialogue with the Democratic Republic of Korea,” he commented. “As I’ve said many times, we’re open to dialogue ourselves at any time but without preconditions from the DPRK.”
