What's happened
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits the US for a state visit with President Joe Biden, culminating in a trilateral summit with the Philippines to bolster defense ties and counter China's assertiveness.
Why it matters
The trilateral summit signifies a significant step in regional security cooperation to address China's maritime activities and militarization in the South China Sea. The alliance aims to enhance deterrence and operational planning against potential threats.
What the papers say
The Japan Times emphasizes the historic upgrade of defense ties between the US and Japan, highlighting the importance of countering China's assertiveness. Al Jazeera focuses on the strategic priorities of the US administration in the Indo-Pacific region, underscoring the unbreakable partnership between Japan and the US. South China Morning Post reports on the joint statement by the three leaders expressing concerns about China's aggressive behavior in the South China Sea.
How we got here
The state visit and trilateral summit follow years of deepening cooperation between the US, Japan, and the Philippines to address regional security challenges, particularly China's maritime activities and militarization in the South China Sea. The meetings aim to strengthen defense ties and enhance interoperability to counter China's growing assertiveness in the region.
Common question
More on these topics
-
The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico.
-
Fumio Kishida is a Japanese politician and the former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan from 2012 to 2017. He is a member of the House of Representatives and the Liberal Democratic Party.
-
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 and represented Delaware in the United States Senate
-
Japan is an island country of East Asia in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It borders the Sea of Japan to the west and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south.
-
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from
-
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines, and in the south by B
-
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital of the Philippines and a highly urbanized city. It is the most densely populated city proper in the world as of 2019.
-
Beijing, alternatively romanized as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's most populous capital city, with over 21 million residents within an administrative area of 16,410.5 kmĀ².