Biden, Suga plan White House meeting as early as April as Quad holds first summit this week
- Japan’s Yoshihide Suga could be the first foreign leader to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington, but the visit depends on the coronavirus pandemic
- This comes as they are set to take part in a Quad meeting this week, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Japan and South Korea next week
US media outlet Axios reported on Sunday that Biden will host the Japanese leader next month, although the exact schedule will depend on the coronavirus pandemic, which means the visit could be delayed until later in the spring.
From the US perspective, the invite “would signal a partial return to normalcy as to how the Biden administration conducts foreign policy during the pandemic, with the new president beginning face-to-face meetings with foreign leaders in the Oval Office”, Axios reported.
For Japan, images of Biden welcoming Suga into the White House as his first foreign guest would be a significant diplomatic coup.
“Tokyo will be absolutely delighted if Suga is the first foreign visitor because it gives both him and Japan a lot of face,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.
“It’s hard to overstate just how important this is to Japan in terms of the diplomatic challenges that Tokyo faces from China, North Korea, Russia and Myanmar, so for Suga to be the first invited to Washington means a lot,” he said.
“But it also signals that the Biden administration, in contrast to his immediate predecessor, wants to rebuild America’s alliances, to show that the US is back on the international stage, that it cares about its allies rather than trying to kick them and embrace its traditional enemies,” he added.