US Secretary of Defense meets his Japanese counterpart at the Pentagon

Biden receives Kishida at the White House and welcomes Japan's military reforms

Biden and Kishida's discussions dealt with security issues and the global economy.

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US President Joe Biden received Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House yesterday, where he welcomed what Washington considers historic plans for Tokyo to enhance military capabilities in the face of common concerns about China.

A senior US administration official reported that Biden and Kishida's discussions dealt with security issues and the global economy, adding that the discussions included monitoring exports of semiconductors to China, after Washington announced strict restrictions last year.

Kishida said he supports Biden's attempt to restrict the export of advanced semiconductors to China, however, he did not agree to a similar move to impose blanket restrictions on exports of chip-making equipment, which the United States imposed in October.

The US official said Washington is working closely with Japan on this issue and believes the two countries share a similar vision even if the legal structures are different.

He pointed out that the more countries and important parties that support the restrictions, the greater their impact.

Christopher Johnston, head of the Japan program at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies and, until recently, responsible for East Asian affairs at the US National Security Council, said Kishida's visit to the White House was a "culmination" of his security reforms and could boost his political standing in his country.

He added that the visit is "an opportunity to highlight the important and unprecedented decisions announced by Japan" and the strong US support for them, "as well as to draw attention to the role played by the Prime Minister himself in achieving them."

Kishida arrived in Washington, the last stop on a tour that included the G7 countries.

His visit follows another that Biden made to Tokyo last May, and after a meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of a regional summit in Cambodia in November.

The foreign and defense ministers of the two countries met on Wednesday and announced intensified security cooperation, with the two US ministers praising Tokyo's plans to boost its military capabilities.

A joint statement said they had laid out "a vision for a modern alliance aimed at winning a new era of strategic competition."

The US coordinator for the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Kurt Campbell, described it as "one of the most important engagements between the two countries in decades."

The statement added that given the "intensified conflict atmosphere", the advanced position of the US forces in Japan must be improved, "through the deployment of more diverse and flexible forces with increased intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and providing them with anti-ship and transport capabilities."

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced plans to deploy a coastal marine regiment in Japan, which will provide significant capabilities, including anti-ship missiles, and the two sides also agreed to extend their mutual defense treaty to include space.

The agreement comes after talks that lasted nearly a year.

This five-year plan will increase defense spending to 2% of GDP, under which Japan will buy missiles that can hit ships or land targets 1,000 kilometers away.

For his part, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met his Japanese counterpart, Yasukazu Hamada, at the Pentagon, the day after the announcement of the expected deployment of a US quick reaction force in Japan.

"Secretary Austin emphasized the unwavering commitment of the United States to the defense of Japan, including the US Extended Deterrence provided by the full range of conventional and nuclear capabilities," his spokesman, General Pat Ryder, said in a statement.

There are currently about 50,000 American soldiers stationed in Japan, more than half of whom are stationed on the island of Okinawa.

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