Biden arrives in Japan to meet Kishida, Quad leaders

Tokyo, May 22 (EFE).- The President of the United States Joe Biden landed in Japan on Sunday for his first visit to the country since assuming office, during which he is scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and leaders of the Quad strategic alliance.

Biden, who is set to be in Japan until Tuesday, has arrived in the country with a focus on economic and security cooperation with Tokyo, Washington’s key strategic ally in the region, along with the other two members of the Quad – Australia and India – in the backdrop of the growing influence of China and the Ukraine war.

Air Force One landed at 5 pm on Sunday at the Yokota airbase west of Tokyo with Biden and the rest of the US delegation on board, where they were received by Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and other high-ranking diplomatic and military officials from both countries.

On Monday the US president is set to hold a summit with Kishida and formally unveil the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a new regional cooperation project aimed at promoting trade and commerce between the US and countries of the Indo-Pacific region, apart from strengthening the resilience of supply chains.

Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, told reporters onboard the presidential plane en-route to Tokyo that the IPEF was an extensive agreement and several countries of the region had expressed interest in it.

During the Quad meeting, set to be held in the Japanese capital on Tuesday, leaders of the four country aim to send a clear message of deterrence against “military aggressions and unilateral changes to the status quo” in the Indo-Pacific, Sullivan said.

He added that the growing tensions across the Taiwan strait could be one of the security matters under discussion during the Quad summit, although they does not form part of the initial agenda .

Biden is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australia’s prime-minister elect, Anthony Albanese, with the latter set to arrive in Japan on Tuesday hours after being sworn-in on Monday, having emerged as the winner of federal elections over the weekend. EFE

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