Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden are expected to agree Wednesday that their countries will bolster defense cooperation, apparently with China's increasing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region in mind.
At their summit held during Kishida's state visit to the United States, the first by a Japanese premier in nine years, the two leaders are also likely to confirm that they will join hands to boost supply chains for semiconductors and other crucial products to tackle Beijing's regional economic clout.
Kishida is certain to reaffirm with Biden the significance of the bilateral alliance, while trying to pitch a "global partnership" between Tokyo and Washington as geopolitical tensions rise across the world, Japanese government officials said.
Ahead of the summit, a welcome ceremony is slated to be held at the White House. After their meeting, Kishida and Biden are scheduled to hold a joint press conference and release an outcome statement before the president hosts an official dinner party.
On the security front, Kishida and Biden are expected to confirm deeper cooperation between the U.S. military and Japan's Self-Defense Forces as threats posed by China and North Korea escalate, the officials said.
Japan is set to establish a joint headquarters to command its ground, maritime and air forces by the end of March 2025. The United States is arranging to strengthen the functions of its command headquarters in Japan in line with the move, the officials said.
Kishida and Biden will also agree to pave the way for jointly developing key defense equipment so the decades-old alliance between the United States and Japan can enter a new stage to underpin stability in the Indo-Pacific region, a top U.S. diplomat said.
The leaders, meanwhile, will pledge to create a framework so that Japanese private companies can undertake extensive repairs of U.S. Navy warships, enabling the vessels to operate for longer without returning home for maintenance, the officials said.
Japan and the United States are likely to flesh out details of the summit agreements at two-plus-two talks involving their defense and foreign ministers in the near future, the officials said.
Kishida and Biden are also poised to make a commitment to reinforce supply chains, with some democracies adversely affected by what the United States calls "economic coercion" by authoritarian countries, the officials said.
In the space field, Kishida and Biden will agree on shared goals regarding the U.S.-led lunar exploration Artemis program, which could see at least two Japanese astronauts traveling to the Moon, the first non-Americans to do so, according to the officials.
