The White House issued the following summary Nov. 16 of President Biden’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco.
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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan in San Francisco today to discuss global and regional security issues and to advance bilateral security and economic cooperation.
The two leaders condemned Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism, reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, and called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians. They agreed to work together on delivering urgent life-saving assistance to civilians in Gaza and committed to continue close diplomatic coordination to prevent the conflict from spreading and to work toward a political solution and durable peace.
Both leaders underscored their resolve to continue supporting Ukraine to ensure it emerges from its war against Russia as a democratic, independent, sovereign, and secure nation that can deter and defend itself against future aggression.
They reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the Korean Peninsula, and the East and South China Seas.
The leaders also discussed their respective diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China and committed to continue close coordination.
Recognizing the U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan backed by the full range of U.S. capabilities, the leaders resolved to work together closely to address shared challenges and advance their vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Building on the historic Camp David Trilateral Summit in August, they agreed to accelerate trilateral cooperation with the Republic of Korea in all areas.
They also highlighted increasing economic cooperation, and welcomed significant progress on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and the second meeting of the U.S.-Japan Economic Policy Consultative Committee (“Economic 2+2”).
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The Prime Minister’s Office of Japan issued the following summary of the meeting.
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At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida stated that he is delighted to meet with President Biden after the historic Japan-U.S.-ROK (Republic of Korea) summit in Camp David. Prime Minister Kishida also stated that the coordination between Japan and the U.S. is becoming more important than ever with the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine, and the challenges of the Indo-Pacific region including China and North Korea.
In response, President Biden stated that the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance is higher than ever, and that he would like to further strengthen the coordination between Japan and the U.S.
Prime Minister Kishida also welcomed the significant progress on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and stated that the Japan-U.S. Economic Policy Consultative Committee (the Economic 2+2 was timely.
The two leaders exchanged views on regional issues.
(1) Prime Minister Kishida stated that he highly appreciates President Biden’s leadership and the U.S. diplomatic efforts including the realization of humanitarian pauses regarding the situation in Israel and Palestine. The two leaders condemned the terror attacks by Hamas and others and concurred on continuing to work closely together to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and toward realizing a twostate solution.
(2) Regarding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the two leaders concurred on continuing severe sanctions against Russia and robust support for Ukraine.
(3) The two leaders, based on the results of the U.S.-China summit meeting on the 15th, concurred on continuing to work closely together in addressing issues related to China. The two leaders also confirmed the importance of cooperating with China on shared challenges.