US and Japan boost defence ties with eye on China
By Bernd Debusmann Jr
US President Joe Biden and Japan’s prime minister have vowed to strengthen defence cooperation in the face of a potential threat from China.
The plans announced by Mr Biden and Fumio Kishida during his Washington visit include an expanded air defence network incorporating Australia.
Additionally, Mr Biden said a Japanese astronaut would join Nasa’s Artemis programme to put people on the moon.
The astronaut will become the first non-American on the moon’s surface.
Speaking from the Rose Garden of the White House during Mr Kishida’s state visit to Washington, Mr Biden said that the deals constituted “the most significant upgrade of our alliance since it was first established”.
Over the course of about two hours of talks, the two leaders largely focused on defence matters in the Indo-Pacific, as well as the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
North Korea, Taiwan and China were a particular focus of the discussions, Mr Kishida said, calling on an “international order based on the rule of law” to be maintained.
“Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion is absolutely unacceptable, wherever it may be,” Mr Kishida said.
