Tokyo: Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held his first talks as Japanese leader with US President Joe Biden and confirmed they would work to strengthen their alliance and cooperate in regional security in the face of growing challenges from China and North Korea.
For stronger ties
Kishida supports stronger Japan-US security ties and partnerships with other like-minded democracies in Asia, Europe and Britain, in part to counter China and nuclear-armed North Korea.
Kishida told reporters that Biden, in a phone call, reassured him of the US commitment to defend the Japanese-controlled East China Sea island Senkaku, which China also claims and has escalated coast guard activity in the area. Biden provided “a strong statement about US commitment for the defense of Japan, including Senkaku,” Kishida said, adding the two leaders also reaffirmed they would tackle together the “challenges facing neighboring regions such as China and North Korea”.