What does Japanese PM Kishida hope to achieve as he visits the US?

Fumio Kishida is the first Japanese prime minister to visit the United States in nine years. The official visit is poised to be a pivotal moment in the relations between the two countries.

During his visit, Kishida will hold a summit with President Joe Biden to strengthen their defence alliance. He will also attend a historic summit in Washington with leaders from the United States, Japan, and the Philippines.

Kishida’s agenda is multifaceted. He seeks to strengthen the Japan-US alliance against the backdrop of China’s increasing influence, showcase Japan’s economic contributions to the US, and position his country as a proactive global partner in security, economy, and space initiatives. This visit also serves as a strategic move for Kishida, who aims to bolster support at home following a corruption scandal.

As a state guest, Kishida will partake in official ceremonies, including a White House arrival ceremony and a formal state dinner. The Japanese PM who arrived in the US on Monday is slated to return to Tokyo on Sunday. We take a look at what to expect from the trip.

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What does Kishida hope to achieve?

The biggest event during the weeklong trip is the summit with Biden on Wednesday. Kishida hopes to further strengthen the alliance as China’s influence grows in the Indo-Pacific.

The Japanese leader is also reaching out to the American public to showcase his country’s contribution to the US economy and ensure stable relations regardless of who wins the US presidential election later this year.

Kishida, who has pushed sweeping changes fortifying Japan’s defence capabilities since taking office in 2021, will emphasise that Japan and the US are now global partners working to maintain a rules-based international order and that Tokyo is willing to take on a greater international role in security, economy and space to help Washington.

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Expanding arms equipment and technology cooperation between the two countries and other like-minded partners is also highly important, Kishida told selected media, including AP, last Friday.

Kishida, stung by a corruption scandal, needs a successful US visit to shore up low support ratings at home.

What will the state visit look like?

As a state guest, Kishida will be welcomed in a White House arrival ceremony on the South Lawn, a formal state dinner and other official events. He is the fifth state guest of Biden, who has also hosted leaders of India, Australia, South Korea and France, underscoring America’s focus on Indo-Pacific security partnerships.

Kishida is the first Japanese leader to make a state visit since Shinzo Abe in 2015. Abe made a major revision to the interpretation of Japan’s pacifist Constitution, allowing its self-defence-only principle to also cover its ally, the United States.

Why is the focus on defence?

Defence tops the agenda because of growing worries about threats from China, North Korea and Russia. Chinese coast guard ships regularly approach disputed Japanese-controlled East China Sea islands near Taiwan. Beijing says Taiwan is part of its territory and will be brought under control by force if necessary.

There are also worries about North Korean nuclear and missile threats and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kishida has warned that the war in Europe could lead to conflict in East Asia, suggesting that a lax attitude to Russia emboldens China.

“While we maintain the Japan-US alliance as a cornerstone, we believe it is important to cooperate with like-minded countries, including the Philippines,” Kishida said.

What are the summit’s main concerns?

Biden and Kishida are expected to agree on a plan to modernise their military command structures so they can better operate together. America stations 50,000 troops in Japan. The Japanese Self Defence Force is preparing to restructure so it has a unified command for ground, air and naval forces by March 2025.

Also expected are new initiatives for defence industry cooperation, including co-production of weapons, possibly a new missile, and the repair and maintenance of American warships and other equipment in Japan to help US operations in the western Pacific.

Japan’s possible participation in a US-UK-Australia security partnership to develop and share advanced military capabilities, including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonics, may also come up.

Kishida and Biden are also expected to confirm Japan’s participation in NASA’s Artemis moon programme and its contribution of a moon rover developed by Toyota Motor Corp and the inclusion of a Japanese astronaut. The rover, which comes at a roughly $2 billion (Rs 1,66,39 crore) cost, is the most expensive contribution to the mission by a non-US partner to date, a US official said.

What are Japan’s defence goals?

Since adopting a more expansive national security strategy in 2022, Kishida’s government has taken bold steps to accelerate Japan’s military buildup. He hopes to show Tokyo is capable of elevating its security cooperation with the US. Kishida has pledged to double defence spending and boost deterrence against China, which Japan considers a top security threat.

Japan, working to acquire what it calls a “counterstrike” capability, has purchased 400 US Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles. After prohibiting almost all weapons transfers, it has relaxed export guidelines twice in recent months, allowing the sale of lethal weapons to countries from which they were licenced and the overseas sales of a fighter jet it’s co-developing with the UK and Italy. The changes have allowed Japan to ship Japanese-made PAC-3 missiles to the US to help replace those contributed by Washington to Ukraine.

What about the summit with the Philippines?

The first-ever trilateral summit between Biden, Kishida and Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr comes as the Philippines faces escalating maritime tension with China over their contested South China Sea claims.

Biden wants to show that the three maritime democracies are unified as they face aggressive Chinese action against the Philippine coast guard and its supply vessels off the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, according to a senior Biden administration official.

Japan has sold coastal radars to the Philippines and is now negotiating a defence agreement that would allow their troops to visit each other’s turf for joint military exercises.

The trilateral comes eight months after Biden hosted a meeting with leaders from Japan and South Korea at Camp David.

“Cooperation among our three countries is extremely important in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and in defending a free and open international order based on the rules of law,” Kishida said Monday before leaving for Washington.

What to expect in North Carolina?

Kishida also wants to highlight Japan’s economic contributions to the US. There is growing uncertainty in Tokyo about US elections, reflected by questions about what happens if former president, Donald Trump, wins, though experts say there is a bipartisan consensus on a stronger US-Japan alliance.

Kishida will meet with business leaders and visit Toyota’s electric vehicle battery factory under construction for a planned launch in 2025, and Honda’s business jet subsidiary in North Carolina. He will also meet students at North Carolina State University on Friday.

In his congressional speech on Thursday, Kishida said he plans to convey “what Japan and the United States want to hand down to future generations and what we need to do for them.”

With inputs from AP