The leaders of Japan and the United States will hold talks at the White House in January next year. It is expected that Kishida will explain to the United States the revision of the new security document

　　[Global Times Special Correspondent in Japan Yue Linwei] Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" reported on the 28th that the governments of Japan and the United States are communicating with each other about holding a Japan-US summit meeting in Washington DC on January 13 next year.

This will be the first meeting between Fumio Kishida and the President of the United States at the White House since he took office as Prime Minister of Japan.

It is expected that Kishida will explain to the U.S. side the revision of three security documents including Japan's "National Security Strategy" and the substantial increase in defense costs, and further deepen the Japan-U.S. alliance.

Data map: Fumio Kishida.

　　It is worth noting that on December 16, the cabinet meeting of the Japanese government passed three security documents including the new version of the "National Security Strategy", which clearly stated that "counterattack capabilities (ability to attack enemy bases)" will be built, and it is planned to be released in 2026. Annual deployment of US-made "Tomahawk" long-range cruise missiles.

At the same time, the document also proposes to increase the total defense expenditure for five years from 2023 by about 43 trillion yen, which is 1.6 times the total defense expenditure for the current five years (2019 to 2023).

Japan also plans to increase the proportion of defense spending and related budgets to Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) from about 1% now to about 2% by 2027.

The White House, the State Department and the Pentagon issued statements one after another, expressing their welcome to the three security documents released by the Japanese government.

　　In 2022, Fumio Kishida has had many face-to-face contacts with US President Biden.

In September, Kishida spoke with Biden for several minutes during the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Japanese media reported that the two sides confirmed cooperation on the reform of the UN Security Council at the time, and Kishida "highly appraised" Biden's support for the expansion of the Security Council; the two agreed to continue to strengthen the Japan-US alliance against China and North Korea.

　　(Source: Global Times)