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An Overview of the Biden-Kishida Summit: Assessment and Implications

An Overview of the Biden-Kishida Summit: Assessment and Implications

An Overview of the Biden-Kishida Summit: Assessment and Implications

Ⅰ. Overview
Ⅱ. Assessment and Implications 


Ⅰ. Overview

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio met virtually on January 21\ 2022. The meeting was their first substantial talks since Kishida became Japan’s prime minister in October. The two leaders discussed a wide range of issues including the U.S.-Japan Alliance\ economic security issues\ as well as several regional and global issues including the COVID-19 pandemic and issues related to China\ Russia and North Korea. 
  
President Biden commended Prime Minister Kishida’s strong commitment to the U.S.-Japan Alliance\ and his determination to fundamentally strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities to reinforce deterrence against common threats. He welcomed the Prime Minister’s intent to revise Japan’s National Security Strategy and other key guiding documents. In particular\ President Biden welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision to increase spending on defense\ and underscored the importance of sustaining these vital investments over time. The President resolutely affirmed that Article V of the Mutual Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands\ and affirmed the United States’ unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan\ using its full range of capabilities. The two leaders also affirmed the importance of strengthening cooperation on emerging issues like cybersecurity. President Biden applauded Japan and Australia’s signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement that will enable closer trilateral defense cooperation.
 
The two leaders resolved to enhance economic ties between the United States and Japan. Noting the progress made under the Competitiveness and Resilience (CoRe) Partnership announced in April 2021\ President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida established a new ministerial-level Economic Policy Consultative Committee (the Economic ""2+2"")\ to track and drive economic cooperation and to strengthen the rules-based economic order in the Indo-Pacific region and the world. Prime Minister Kishida expressed strong support for President Biden’s proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework\ and pledged to work closely with the United States to build support for the initiative in the region.  President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kishida agreed on the importance of economic policies that are sustainable and inclusive\ and benefit the middle class. Prime Minister Kishida expressed strong support for President Biden’s proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework\ and pledged to work closely with the United States to build support for the initiative in the region. The two leaders agreed on the importance of economic policies that are sustainable and inclusive\ and benefit the middle class. 
 
With regards to China issues\ the two leaders resolved to push back against the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and South China Sea; underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues; and shared concerns about PRC practices in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. 
 
Moreover\ the two leaders condemned the recent ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)\ which are in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula\ both leaders committed to maintain close coordination on DPRK issues moving forward\ in lockstep with the Republic of Korea (ROK). President Biden also expressed support for the immediate resolution of the abductions issue. President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida affirmed the importance of close cooperation among the United States\ Japan\ and the ROK in addressing common challenges\ and underscored the imperative of a strong trilateral relationship between Japan\ the United States\ and the ROK\ on security and more broadly. 
 
The leaders committed to work closely together to deter Russian aggression against Ukraine\ and Prime Minister Kishida pledged to continue close coordination with the United States\ other Allies and partners\ and the international community on taking strong action in response to any attack. 
 
The two leaders said they remain committed to working closely with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida reaffirmed their support for ASEAN centrality and resolved to strengthen their cooperation in Southeast Asia. The two leaders highlighted the importance of the Quad – Australia\ Japan\ India\ and the United States – as a critical forum for promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region\ and resolved to ensure the Quad delivers practical results in areas such as COVID-19 response\ climate and clean energy\ and infrastructure. President Biden welcomed Prime Minister Kishida’s invitation to visit Japan for the next Quad Leaders Meeting in the first half of 2022. President Biden applauded the Prime Minister’s leadership on issues related to nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament\ and they welcomed the U.S.-Japan Joint Statement on the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. 
 
The two leaders agreed to continue working closely together to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and new variants. President Biden reaffirmed his intent to host the next Global COVID-19 Summit in the first quarter of 2022 and relayed the importance to follow through and increase collective commitments\ including doses and efforts to vaccinate the world\ support to save lives now\ and sustainable financing for health security and pandemic preparedness.


Ⅱ. Assessment and Implications 

The leaders of the U.S. and Japan met virtually this time because they concurred on the need to show solidarity between the U.S. and Japan given the urgent situations at home and abroad. The Biden administration has made diplomatic efforts to restore U.S. leadership over the past year\ but as a result of prioritizing domestic affairs\ the administration’s diplomacy is drawing sharp criticism at home and abroad ahead of the upcoming midterm election slated for November. Last year\ the Biden administration faced tough challenges in dealing with China issues and in withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan\ and in recent months\ it is facing some of the most pressing foreign policy issues such as North Korea’s missile launches and tensions mounting along the eastern borders of Ukraine. Against this backdrop\ the virtual meeting was an opportunity to demonstrate U.S. leadership through cooperation with Japan\ a key U.S. ally in Asia. And it appears that Prime Minister Kishida\ for his part\ tried to show off his diplomatic credentials by holding a virtual summit with President Biden at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for him to pay a visit to Washington and hold an early U.S.-Japan summit. 
 
The most pressing issue for the two leaders at the meeting was China\ as was the case in the U.S.-Japan summit in April 2021. Prime Minister Kishida\ who belongs to the liberal faction within the LDP\ is known to value relations with China. However\ when it comes to security matters\ the Kishida cabinet is expected to rely on and leverage the U.S.-Japan Alliance as a key pillar in responding to China\ just like its predecessors led by Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga. Prime Minister Kishida\ along with President Biden\ criticized China’s attempts to change the status quo and its human rights violations and made it clear that he will bolster the U.S.-Japan Alliance and multilateral solidarity to reinforce deterrence against Chinese actions. This suggests that the Kishida Cabinet will make diplomatic efforts to stabilize China-Japan relations while improving its defense capabilities to secure deterrence against China. 
 
At the U.S.-Japan summit in April last year\ the Biden administration manifested its determination to implement policies to check China by vowing to inherit the Trump administration's commitment to the Indo-Pacific strategy and the Quad. The Suga cabinet concurred that the U.S. and Japan share vital interests in promoting peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Since then\ observers and experts in Japan have led discussions over the formulation and implementation of the guidelines to effectively assign roles between the U.S. and Japan for emergency preparedness around the Senkaku Islands and the Taiwan Strait and Japan's security legislation. At the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee (2+2) in January\ the two sides agreed to foster consistency in terms of visions and priorities of the U.S.-Japan alliance in detailed strategic documents released after the meeting. The two countries expressed concerns about new weapon systems\ including nuclear weapons\ ballistic and cruise missiles\ and hypersonic weapons\ and concurred on the need to strengthen cross-sector capabilities to bolster missile defense\ and promote security in various domains - land\ sea\ space\ cyberspace\ and in the electromagnetic sector.
 
Prime Minister Kishida's bid for fundamentally strengthening Japan's defense capabilities at the summit is in line with such discussions. Recently\ the debate over the possible acquisition of missile capabilities (so-called 'enemy base attack capabilities') has surfaced in Japanese politics in relation to the country's efforts at boosting defense capabilities. At the 2+2 meeting mentioned above\ Japan said it would review all options in its strategic documents\ including its missile defense capabilities. And it is possible that the two sides discussed the matter at the summit. With the U.S. integrating more with Japan through the alliance in the 21st century\ it is anticipated that Japan will likely play a more significant role in the U.S.' Indo-Pacific strategy\ especially in defending the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait. With the progress of defense cooperation across all areas between the U.S. and Japan\ it appears that Japan's defense capabilities will likely go beyond the scope of its exclusively defense-oriented policy. 
 
At the summit\ they discussed shared responses to China's rise by establishing the international solidarity network to promote economic security. Since the Trump administration\ the U.S. has tightened regulations on high-tech exports to China. After taking office\ President Biden has endeavored to reduce its dependence on China for semiconductors\ medicines\ batteries for electric vehicles\ and rare earth elements. The Biden administration has also accelerated efforts to secure the U.S.-led supply chains. At the end of last year\ the U.S. launched the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative to curb the advancement of China's surveillance technologies. Recently\ Japan has strengthened discussions on economic security and reorganized the government\ and the Kishida cabinet plans to introduce a bill to promote economic security. At the U.S.-Japan summit last year\ the two countries proposed various and specific policies for reorganizing global supply chains and excluding China in the high-tech sector. In addition\ the two sides launched a new Competitiveness and Resilience (CoRe) Partnership\ agreeing to create the ""Economic 2+2."" The committee will be steered by the two countries' foreign ministers\ trade ministers\ and secretaries of state and commerce. The main agendas will likely be boosting investment in third countries\ reorganizing supply chains\ protecting key technologies\ improving infrastructure maintenance to cope with China's Belt and Road Initiative\ and deepening cooperation in the development of carbon capture technologies.
 
Issues related to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament discussed at the summit are likely to be the primary agenda for future U.S.-Japan cooperation. Before the summit\ the two countries issued a joint statement on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)\ following the 2009 and 2015 joint statements. In the statement\ two heads of state encouraged the world's political leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to help realize a ""world without nuclear weapons."" The statement also called for China to improve transparency in nuclear capabilities\ join efforts at North Korea's nuclear disarmament through the complete\ verifiable\ and irreversible dismantlement (CVID) of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles\ and return to NPT. However\ Japan is facing a dilemma because it cannot speak up for the immediate disposal of all nuclear weapons as it relies on U.S. extended deterrence in a deteriorating security environment. Moreover\ the U.S. and Japan are not signatories of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons\ which entered into force in 2021.

Nevertheless\ President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida stay committed to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament because the U.S. and Japan share security interests. While serving as the Vice President of the Barack Obama administration\ Biden supported nuclear disarmament\ calling for a ""world without nuclear weapons\"" and the Biden administration's national security strategy guidelines released in March last year included a policy to scale down the role of nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Kishida's political career is rooted in Hiroshima\ once ravaged by atomic bombings. Therefore\ it appears that Kishida is likely to strive to distance himself from Abe's diplomacy by calling for a ""world without nuclear weapons.""
 
The U.S.-Japan summit left a task for Korean diplomacy regarding the Korean peninsula issues and Korea-Japan relations. The Biden administration underscores policy cooperation between South Korea\ the U.S.\ and Japan to address the North Korean nuclear issue. In contrast\ the Moon Jae-in administration gives considerable weight to dialogue with North Korea to lay the foundation for sustainable inter-Korean reconciliation and peace on the Korean peninsula. In contrast\ the Japanese government underscores the complete\ verifiable\ and irreversible dismantlement (CVID) of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. When North Korea repeatedly launched ballistic missiles\ the U.S. demanded the U.N. Security Council to strengthen sanctions against North Korea\ but such demand faced opposition from China and Russia. As a result\ only the U.S. imposed new sanctions against North Korea\ and North Korea issued a statement suggesting additional nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests. With the escalation of tensions between Washington and Pyongyang\ the U.S. and Japan reaffirmed to deepen cooperation with South Korea for the ""complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."" It appears that the U.S. and Japanese governments expect South Korea to play a more significant role in resolving the North Korean problems in the coming years. 
 
The Biden administration has been focusing its diplomatic efforts on strengthening Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation and improving Korea-Japan relations\ which deteriorated during the Trump administration. The importance of U.S.-Japan cooperation has been underscored at the U.S.-Japan 2+2 meeting held in March last year\ the joint statement at the U.S.-Japan summit in April\ the U.S.-Japan summit in May\ and this year's U.S.-Japan 2+2 meeting. In 2021\ the three countries frequently met with North Korea's chief nuclear representative at the meeting of national security advisors in April\ the foreign ministers' meeting in May and September\ and the vice foreign ministers' meeting in July and November. Various agendas such as climate change\ the COVID-19 pandemic\ and economic recovery were discussed at these meetings\ but the issues related to North Korea and the Korean peninsula drew the greatest attention. Therefore\ it deserves attention to how the Biden administration’s diplomacy will interplay with the domestic politics of Korea and Japan and affect Korea-Japan relations.


* Attached the File

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