[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide will hold a face-to-face summit at the White House in the early morning of the 17th (Korean time). Prime Minister Suga is the first foreign leader to meet President Biden in person, and through this summit, the two are expected to reaffirm the firm alliance between the U.S. and Japan. China views the U.S.-Japan summit’s main agenda as measures to contain China and has sent strong messages ahead of the meeting to counterbalance it.
According to Japan’s Kyodo News and China’s state-run Global Times on the 16th, Prime Minister Suga will hold a summit with President Biden in the early morning of the 17th Korean time (afternoon of the 16th Eastern U.S. time).
The main agenda of this summit is expected to reconfirm that the Senkaku Islands (known as Diaoyu Islands in China), a territory disputed between China and Japan, fall under Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which stipulates the U.S. defense obligations to Japan. With tensions rising over the Senkaku Islands, Japanese intelligence hopes to achieve a China containment effect through this summit.
Additionally, the two countries are expected to discuss cooperation measures to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues as well as the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea.
The Taiwan issue is also expected to be a major agenda item. Amid escalating U.S.-China conflicts, military tensions between the two countries have recently increased in the Taiwan Strait. It is reported that the U.S. and Japan are coordinating to include content related to the Taiwan Strait in a joint document to be released after the summit. If realized, this would be the first time in about 52 years since the summit between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and then-Japanese Prime Minister Sato Eisaku in November 1969 that Taiwan is mentioned in a joint U.S.-Japan summit document.
China views the main agenda of the U.S.-Japan summit as measures to contain China and warned that if the U.S. and Japan cross the “red line” on issues such as Taiwan, it will be a test for Suga rather than a diplomatic achievement.
The Global Times criticized, "Japan is forming an anti-China alliance dependent on the U.S. to contain China’s rise, which is a foolish decision," adding, "In trade, China holds a much more important position than the U.S., and it is foolish for Japan, which needs economic stimulus, to stand on the opposite side of China."
It further stated, "Especially Japan’s moves to ‘flatter’ the U.S. prove that the Suga administration is the weakest cabinet in Japanese history," and "Such actions by the Suga cabinet will likely face a backlash and be difficult to sustain."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Suga is scheduled to return to Japan via Tokyo Haneda Airport on the 18th after completing his four-day visit to the U.S.
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