Biden, Kishida tout more muscular Japanese military role

US President Joe Biden hosts Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. The visit is Kishida's first trip to the US capital since taking office in October 2021, though he has held talks with Biden several times, including in Japan.

President Joe Biden and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida touted Tokyo's beefed-up military posture during White House talks as part of a deepening alliance to maintain stability in the increasingly tense Asia-Pacific.

Hosting Kishida in the Oval Office, Biden said the countries' "shared democratic values are the source of our strength, the source of our alliance."

He said they would be discussing "modernising our military alliance" and welcomed "Japan's historic increase in defence spending and new national security strategy."

"Let me  be crystal clear: the United States is fully, thoroughly, completely committed to the alliance and more importantly to Japan’s defence," Biden said.

In December, Japan shook up its defence strategy with a pledge to increase spending to two percent of GDP by 2027, adding more muscular capabilities in the face of a rising China and unpredictable, nuclear-armed North Korea.

"Japan and the United States are currently facing the most challenging and complex security environment in recent history," Kishida told Biden.

The new Japanese defence posture will "ensure peace and prosperity in the region," he said.

"Japan decided upon fundamentally reinforcing our defence capabilities, including possessing counter strike capabilities," he said.