Joe Biden praises Japan for stepping up defence funding

The US President said American and Japan ‘face the challenges of today and in the future together’, amid concerns about Chinese military action.

Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida meet at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo on Monday. Picture: AFP

President Joe Biden has praised Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida for stepping up defence spending, as the war in Ukraine spurs America and its Indo-Pacific allies to coordinate to deter future Chinese military action.

At a meeting in Tokyo held before the two leaders are joined by Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi at Tuesday’s Quad summit, Mr Biden said the two countries “face the challenges of today and in the future together.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is hanging over the Quad meeting and Biden’s trip to Asia, the first by an American president in more than twenty years to not include a stop in China.

“[It] shakes the very foundation of the international order,” Mr Kishida said on Monday. “Such unilateral attempts to alter the status quo cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world.”

Earlier this month, Japan’s leader warned that “Ukraine may be East Asia tomorrow”, a clear signal of Tokyo’s concern about China’s threats over Taiwan.

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, centre, and US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, centre left, greet US President Joe Biden, at Yokota Air Base. Biden said “there is a sense among the democracies in the Pacific that there’s a need to co-operate much more closely.” Picture: AFP

Reports in the Japanese media said in their Monday meeting, Kishida confirmed to his American counterpart that Tokyo would double its defence budget to about $152 billion, breaking restrictions imposed after the Second World War, as fears grow of threats from China, Russia and North Korea.

That would take Japan’s military spending would rise to 2 per cent of GDP, the benchmark set by NATO members.

“Things have changed,” Biden said before their meeting.

“There is a sense among the democracies in the Pacific that there’s a need to co-operate much more closely. Not just militarily, but... economically and politically.”

Japanese media said Kishida had also told Biden that Tokyo was seeking a “counterstrike capability” with mobile or submarine-launched missiles and command and control systems.

The readout from the meeting said only that Tokyo was determined to “strengthen Japan’s defence capabilities”.

Beijing has been furious about Biden’s trip and the raft of security developments that have been announced.

Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, over the weekend said the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy was “doomed to fail.”

China’s foreign ministry said Biden’s strategy “is under the banner of ‘freedom and openness,’ but it is keen to gang up and create ‘small circles’” in an attempt to contain China.

Mr Wang is scheduled to begin a Pacific Islands trip this week to Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Kiribati.

He will sign China’s new security agreement with the Solomons and is reportedly working on a similar arrangement with Kiribati, which also switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 2019.

“Construction of a powerful, modern navy is a key sign of building a world-class army”, said Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Getty

The Quad meeting and the frenzy of China’s Pacific diplomacy are all taking place in Albanese’s first week as Australia’s leader.

Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, an Indian-based member of the Asia Society’s Global Council, said New Delhi was keen to probe Australia’s new leader for “any signs of Panda sentimentality”.

Mr Albanese said he would affirm with Quad leaders his strong support for the dialogue and discuss his priorities for the Indo-Pacific in the years ahead.

At a meeting over the weekend in Seoul, South Korea’s newly elected President Yoon Suk-yeol told Biden his country was keen to cooperate with the Quad. Any move to full membership would require support of South Korea’s main opposition party.

The guided-missile destroyer Shenzhen (Hull 167) attached to a destroyer flotilla, with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command, fires its close-in weapons system at mock sea targets during a maritime training exercise, in waters off the South China Sea. Picture: Supplied

Despite clear signs of alarm in the region, China has concerned to modernise its navy at an unprecedented rate.

“Construction of a powerful, modern navy is a key sign of building a world-class army,” Xi said this month. “It is a critical part to realise the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

China’s navy has held military exercises near Japan’s southwestern islands, including Okinawa. It has also practised for an invasion of Taiwan, including sending ships this month to “encircle” the island.

Recent satellite pictures show shipyards in China continue to expand and that work on the country’s third aircraft carrier appears to be almost complete.

Two nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and another nuclear-powered attack submarine are also under construction.