Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida to announce ‘historic’ agreement upgrading US-Japan relationship: top envoy

‘Unprecedented trilateral engagement’ for Washington, Tokyo and Manila when countries’ leaders meet next week, No 2 State Department official says

US needs to implement co-production of weapons with allies as Russia reconstitutes militarily with China’s economic support, adds Kurt Campbell

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 1:52am, 4 Apr 2024Updated: 5:26am, 4 Apr 2024

US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will announce an “historic” agreement next week that will “upgrade” the two countries’ security relationship, deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday.

In addition to agreements that will bolster bilateral security arrangements while the Japanese leader is in Washington, the two leaders will announce “an unprecedented trilateral engagement” with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.

“What you will see next week is both the culmination of a recent period of intense activity but also launching a period that really underscores that the US-Japan relationship is entering a fundamentally new phase that will both bring new capabilities to bear … [and] clear responsibilities” on how the two countries engage, Campbell said in a discussion at the Centre for a New American Security, a think tank.

With Marcos also in Washington next week, “there will be an unprecedented trilateral engagement between [the] three nations”, Campbell added. Biden’s summit with Kishida and Marcos will be the first of its kind for the three countries.

“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but I think it is fair to say that you will see commitments” on the part of all three nations involving “closer coordination and engagement in the South China Sea and elsewhere”, Campbell said.