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The US and Japan are to modernise their militaries’ command and control structures in what President Joe Biden said was the “most significant” upgrade to their alliance since their mutual defence treaty decades ago.
“Over the last three years the partnership between Japan and United States has been transformed into a truly global partnership,” Biden said, standing alongside Fumio Kishida, Japan’s prime minister.
Kishida said the world faced a “historical turning point” as it confronted crises around the world. He said he and Biden had agreed that Japan and the US would “continue to respond to challenges concerning China”.
Speaking before the meeting, Biden hailed the “indestructible” alliance with Japan that President Dwight Eisenhower envisioned when the countries signed a mutual defence treaty in 1960.
The meeting in Washington between the two leaders will include the first state dinner for a Japanese prime minister since Shinzo Abe in 2015. On Thursday, they will meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr for the first trilateral summit with the Philippines, in another example of the allies bolstering co-operation because of perceived threats from China.
Kishida and Biden will announce that they plan to implement the most consequential upgrade to the alliance since 1960, as first reported by the Financial Times. The goal is to boost co-operation and planning needed for any military contingencies, including a conflict with China over Taiwan.
US officials said the allies would unveil more than 70 “deliverables” in sectors from space to artificial intelligence. One official said they would also announce the two nations were “stepping up” intelligence co-operation.
The summit comes as Japan has made a dramatic shift in its security policy, driven by aggressive Chinese activity and the Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which have served as a reminder of the threat of conflict.
Sheila Smith, a Japan expert and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said a step change had been made in how Japan deals with global issues, saying it now “wants to make a difference”.
“Tokyo no longer watches quietly from the sidelines as North Korea, China and now Russia attempt to change the status quo. Japan’s leaders now recognise the danger of inaction. Their aim is to ensure no one will discount Japan’s strength,” said Smith.
US officials said the leaders would not discuss Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9bn acquisition of US Steel, which Biden has opposed in one of the few thorny issues in the otherwise rock-solid alliance. In an unusual twist, Dave McCall, president of the United Steelworkers union, which opposes the deal, will attend the state dinner.
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