Joe Biden and the Prime Minister of Japan to meet today at the White House

The American President, Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will send a “clear signal” to China this Friday during their bilateral meeting., which will mark the first time in more than half a century that its two countries mention Taiwan in a joint statement.

The meeting with Suga at the White House will be the first that Biden has had in person with a leader from another country since he came to power in January, and both China and North Korea will center much of the agenda.

Neither the United States nor Japan “seek to increase tensions or provoke China, but at the same time, they will try to send a clear signal about some of the steps it is taking” Beijing, a senior US official, who requested anonymity, said at a telephone news conference on Thursday.

The joint statement that the two governments will issue at the end of the meeting will include a mention of Taiwan, which does not appear in a statement from US leaders. and Japan since the one signed in 1969 by Richard Nixon and Eisaku Sato, the source confirmed.

Over the past half century, Tokyo has avoided criticizing Chinese policy towards Taiwan – which Beijing regards as a rogue province and not as an independent country – in order to avoid a confrontation with the Asian giant, with which it maintains important economic ties.

The United States understands that Suga has to be “careful” in that sense, but that will not prevent the issue of Taiwan from being part of the “formal declaration” this Friday, because both countries are interested in “maintaining peace and stability” in the taiwanese straitexplained the American source.

Biden cares so much about the issue of Taiwan that on Thursday he sent a US delegation there, which held consultations on the latest military maneuvers in Beijing and the recent incursions by Chinese aircraft into the Taiwanese air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

The two leaders are also expected to discuss China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang and the situation in Hong Kong, but Biden understands that Suga “has a slightly different perspective” on the issue and will not pressure him to conform to his, he said. the official.

What’s more, Biden will take the opportunity to “tweak” with the help of the Japanese leader the new US strategy towards North Korea, that his team has just finished and that Washington has recently shared with Tokyo and Seoul, he added.

Biden will also express to Suga his “concern” and “pain” over diplomatic friction between Japan and South Korea, sparked by a dispute related to forced labor imposed on South Korean citizens during the Japanese occupation in World War II.

“The political tensions are such that we believe this is an impediment to our ability to be effective in (our strategy on) Northeast Asia.”, indicated the source.

After the meeting, Suga to announce “a remarkable commitment” to work on 5G technology with the United States, valued at 2 billion dollars, according to the official.

It will also reveal “specific climate measures that will put Japan in a leadership position” within the global commitments by 2030, he added.

When he arrives at the White House, Suga will have “a long meeting” alone with Biden to “get to know each other better”, followed by a meeting with their respective teams and a press conference.