In the early hours of Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida kicked off his seven-day tour of European countries, Canada and the United States. Here’s a closer look into what is expected to top the 65-year-old’s agenda during talks with leaders of Tokyo’s key Western allies.
Next Gen Plane, Joint Drills
Kishida’s upcoming negotiations with Group of Seven (G7) leaders will come ahead of a G7 summit in Hiroshima scheduled for May.
During his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron later in the day, Kishida will most likely share concern over China’s growing activity in the South Pacific and confirm expanding joint military drills between Paris and Tokyo.
Japan’s joint development and production of its F-X next generation fighter jet with the UK and Italy will most likely be a top agenda item during Kishida’s visits to Rome and London on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
The Japanese prime minister’s Western tour unfolds as Tokyo and London have been discussing a Reciprocal Access Agreement that would remove obstacles to holding joint military exercises in Japan or Britain.
Besides the Japan-US security treaty that allows American troops to be stationed in Japan, Tokyo has a similar agreement only with Australia, and Britain is expected to be second – a topic that is expected to be discussed during Kishida’s visit to the UK.
Ottawa-Tokyo Talks
On Thursday, the Japanese prime minister will meet his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau in Ottawa. It will be Kishida's first visit to Canada since he was elected in 2021.
A press release from Trudeau's office earlier said that the two will discuss strengthening bilateral trade, the Ukraine conflict and Japan's upcoming G7 presidency.
"I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kishida to Canada and working even more closely together to deliver results for people in Canada and Japan," Trudeau stressed in a statement late last week.
Kishida-Biden Meeting
Friday will see Kishida sit down with US President Joe Biden at the White House, in what will be the Japanese PM’s first visit to Washington since he took office in October 2021.
Kishida told reporters late last week that “with the United States, we'll discuss deepening our bilateral alliance and how to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
“It will be a chance to show the Japanese and US stance to the international community,” he added.
Kishida also said that his talks with Biden will underscore how the two countries can work more closely under Japan’s new security and defense strategies, which were adopted in December.
The strategies in particular stipulate a counterstrike capability that is out of sync with Tokyo’s exclusively self-defense-only postwar principle. Under the strategies, Japan will reinforce defenses on its southwestern islands close to Taiwan, including Yonaguni and Ishigaki, where new bases are being constructed.
During the talks at the White House, Kishida and Biden are also expected to discuss China, North Korea’s nuclear and missile development as well as the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
Bilateral collaboration in the field of supply chain and economic security will most likely also be on the table. Last week, Japanese Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo discussed the importance of Tokyo and Washington working together to promote and protect critical and emerging technologies, including the creation of sophisticated semiconductor chips.
Kishida earlier stated that he supports Biden’s efforts to restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductors through export limits, but he declined to match the broad limitations on the export of machinery used in chip fabrication that the Biden administration slapped in October 2022.