Chinese Herald News From 6:10 p.m. local time on April 9 (7:10 a.m. Japan time on April 10), Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, who are on an official visit to Washington, D.C., were warmly received by President Biden and his wife and held an informal dinner. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held talks with President Joe Biden in Washington, USA, on the morning of the 10th local time.
Prime Minister Kishida and his wife arrived in the United States, and the Biden couple came out to greet them.
First of all, Prime Minister Kishida and his wife, accompanied by President Biden and his wife, visited the White House, and the atmosphere was also very harmonious and friendly, they visited the cherry blossom trees planted by the two leaders, and Prime Minister Kishida and his wife presented cherry blossom saplings brought from Japan.
Prime Minister Kishida and his wife arrived in the United States.
In addition, Prime Minister Kishida presented President Biden with Wajima lacquer coffee cups, ballpoint pens, Okinawan coffee beans, Japanese toys, and goods related to the popular character "Mario". Prime Minister Kishida introduced the characteristics of Wajima lacquerware and said that the gifts he brought were carefully made by young craftsmen of Wajima lacquerware, a traditional craft of Noto that was affected by the earthquake, through more than 100 processes, and that Prime Minister Kishida's wife presented Takaoka bronze jewelry to Mrs. Gil.
Prime Minister Kishida and his wife arrived in the United States
Prime Minister Kishida and his wife arrived in the United States
The Bidens presented the Kishida couple with a table made of native wood from the North American continent. Allegedly made by a Japanese-American business operating in eastern Pennsylvania. In addition, they were presented with lithographs and albums signed by Billy Joel, one of the most famous American singers, as well as a painting depicting the cherry blossom trees that Yuko and Jill planted together in the White House garden last April.
The heads of state of the two countries exchanged gifts.
In addition, the leaders of the two countries took a group photo with a model of the lunar pressurized rover being developed by JAXA and Toyota, and confirmed their expectations for Japan's contribution to the Artemis moon landing program and the importance of Japan in this program. The Artemis program is a robotic and human international cooperation program to explore the moon, led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and has six partner agencies: the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the German Aerospace Center, the Italian Space Agency, the Israel Space Agency, The Canadian Space Agency, whose goal is to return to the moon and establish a long-term scientific research base, and eventually land on Mars, the United States has guaranteed that Japan will be given two chances to land on the moon.
The two leaders then left the White House for an informal dinner at a city restaurant. In the restaurant, the leaders and their wives of the two countries reviewed the good memories of their past exchanges, talked about their families, hobbies, and daily life, deepened their friendship in a relaxed atmosphere, established a personal relationship of trust between the leaders of the two countries, and enhanced their feelings and friendship.
The summit of the two countries met with reporters.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held talks with President Joe Biden in Washington, USA, on the morning of the 10th local time. After the talks, the two leaders issued a joint statement agreeing to revise the framework of command and control of the US forces stationed in Japan in order to strengthen cooperation between the Self-Defense Forces and the US military stationed in Japan.
Biden emphasized that "Japan and the United States are modernizing command and control [between the U.S. and Japan's Self-Defense Forces] to improve interoperability between the U.S. military and Japan's self-defense pairs for seamless and effective cooperation." This is the most important upgrade since the inception of the Alliance." This is the first time in nine years that a Japanese prime minister has visited the United States as a state guest, and it aims to demonstrate to the international community that Japan-US relations are "global partners."
The Japanese and U.S. governments plan to cooperate with the "Unification and Cooperative Operations Command" established by Japan at the end of fiscal 2024, and the U.S. military stationed in Japan will also strengthen its structure, enhance the authority of the U.S. Forces in Japan and change its organization, so as to connect with Japan's new Integrated Command and deepen cooperation and coordination with the Self-Defense Forces in daily military practice. The joint statement stressed that the Japan-US alliance has reached unprecedented heights in light of Japan's efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities, and the two leaders said that they have entered a "new era of strategic cooperation."
In order to promote cooperation between the defense industries of Japan and the United States, the parties will hold regular consultations and identify priority areas. Given the pressure on the US defense equipment production system for supporting Ukraine, "joint production of missiles" became a topic of discussion. It is said that Japan will assume the production of the Patriot Missile 3 (PAC3) surface-to-air missile and related components, and set up a working group to train fighter pilots and jointly develop a jet trainer. The Japan-US summit discussed the issue of joint development and mutual supply of armaments between Japan and the United States, and the Japanese and US governments are also discussing the regular maintenance and repair of US military equipment by Japanese companies.
The two sides agreed to establish a new framework for joint research on artificial intelligence (AI), position the Japan-US relationship as a "global partnership," and establish a Japanese-U.S. company to strengthen cooperation on cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence. The U.S. side reassured Japan that it would have at least two chances to participate in the Artemis moon landing program, a U.S.-led lunar exploration program.
The U.S. Navy's first training for the Self-Defense Forces began on 25 March, and on 28 March, the U.S. military disclosed the status of the training to a select group of Japanese and U.S. media at the U.S. base in Yokosuka. In addition, in addition to countermeasures against hypersonic weapons, the statement also urged specific consultations between the Japanese Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense on joint development of defense weapons and equipment, including private companies.
In Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Kishida attended the Japan-US summit meeting and official dinner on April 10, delivered a speech at a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives of the US Congress on April 11, and attended a summit meeting of the leaders of Japan, the United States, and the Philippines. After his trip to Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Kishida will visit North Carolina to visit local Japanese companies, meet with Japanese language learners, and attend a luncheon between Governor Cooper and his wife.
Prime Minister Kishida's itinerary for his visit:
On Monday, April 8, we flew from Tokyo to Washington, D.C., and held a Japan-US summit meeting on the 10th local time.
On April 11 (Thursday), the Japan-U.S.-Philippines summit meeting was held on the 11th local time, and he delivered a speech at a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress, and arrived in North Carolina from Washington, D.C.
Depart from North Carolina on Saturday, April 13.
Arrived in Tokyo on Sunday, April 14.