US, Japan and Australia begin joint air defense system. This was announced by US President Joe Biden during a meeting at the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, reported the world agencies, quoted by BTA.
The visit is focused on strengthening ties between these countries before China.
"For the first time, Japan, the United States and Australia will create a network of air defense missiles and defense architecture,”, Biden said at a joint press conference with Kishida.
The president also said that a Japanese person would be the first non-American to walk on the moon.
"Two Japanese astronauts will participate in future American missions, and one of them will be the first non-American to land on the moon,”, Biden pointed out.
For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida called for peace and stability regarding the issue of Taiwan in the context of tensions with China.
"We emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and reaffirmed our position, which is to promote a peaceful solution to cross-strait issues,” Kishida said.
He clarified that he and Biden discussed various issues, including China, North Korea and plans to strengthen Japan's defense forces.
"We agreed that our two countries will continue to meet the challenges of China through close cooperation. At the same time, we affirm the continuation of our dialogue with China and cooperation with China on common challenges,” Kishida said.
In this regard, at the joint press conference, Biden said that the US is improving lines of communication with China and that Chinese President Xi Jinping has agreed to a personal line of contact with Biden.
Kishida said he wanted a summit with North Korea to resolve a number of issues.
Regarding Japan's cooperation with the AUCUS format uniting the US, UK and Australia, Kishida said at the general press conference that nothing has yet been decided in this regard.
However, a joint statement by the two leaders issued after their meeting said the three AUCUS partner countries are considering cooperation with Japan in a number of areas, including quantum, underwater, hypersonic, cyber and artificial intelligence.
He added that he explained to Biden that based on Japan's national security strategy, Japan is determined to strengthen its defense forces by acquiring capabilities to repel attacks, increasing its defense budget and other initiatives. Biden has assured Kishida that he strongly supports these Japanese defense efforts.
In that vein, Biden said the US and Japan are taking steps to modernize their command and control structures in Japan to increase operational interoperability and planning. He called the strengthening of defense cooperation with Japan the most significant step since the alliance between the two countries was established.
Biden assured that military cooperation with Japan is entirely defensive.
"This is a defensive alliance. The issues that we discussed today allow us to improve our cooperation and concern only the defense and the level of preparation," said Biden.
At the joint press conference with Kishida, Biden said that “Hamas“ must move forward on the Gaza ceasefire proposal.
"The ball is in the court of “Hamas”. They must move forward with the proposal that was made to them,”, the president said. At the same time, he stated that Israel is not allowing sufficient aid to enter Gaza.
Biden also called on the US House of Representatives to vote immediately to unblock billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.
"Majorities of Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly support Ukraine. There has to be a vote now," Biden said.