US president Joe Biden had stated that China’s actions over the Indo-Pacific region have been “inconsistent with the rules-based international order” while Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have averred that the US-Japan alliance stays as the “cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific” and stated Quad as a “force for good”.
In the due process of the visit analysts have identified this visit as historic to Washington DC, Biden hosted Kishida at the White House on Friday. In a joint statement released post the meeting which arrives after the high-level engagement between foreign and defence ministers of duo followed under the 2+2 format, also adding the Japanese PM’s visit to Europe – the two countries mentioned that their “security alliance has never been stronger”.
Biden and Kishida gave their consent over the alignment of “collective force posture and deterrence capabilities” to combat new threats, including cyber and space domains; cooperation on development and employment and technologies; also adopting a commonality for Taiwan. “We emphasise 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.”
