Biden arrives in Japan
Hiroshima, The Gulf Observer: President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Thursday and greeted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida by saying, “When our countries stand together, we stand stronger” — a sign of how the economic and national security alliance between the two countries has grown.
The U.S. president began his remarks by noting that Kishida said during a January Washington visit that the world faced one of the “most complex” security environments in recent history. “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Biden said.
“We very much welcome that the cooperation has evolved in leaps and bounds,” Kishida told Biden about Japan’s relationship with the U.S. in their meeting ahead of the Group of Seven summit that begins Friday.
The Kishida family’s home city of Hiroshima will host the gathering of major industrialized nations known at the G-7. The setting of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the first nuclear bomb in 1945 during World War II, carries newfound resonance. The U.S., Japan and their allies are strategizing on how to deal with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Biden is appearing on the world stage while trying to manage a divide back in the U.S. on how to raise the debt limit. He opted to cut short what was supposed to be an eight-day trip to Asia, so he can return to Washington to try to avoid a potentially catastrophic default in June that could ripple across the global economy. It’s a drama that reveals how internal U.S. politics can spillover into global forums.
