Biden and Kishida Meet Before the Start of the G7 Summit

On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a meeting prior to the start of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima on Friday.

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"Joe and I will review the issues of the G7 summit in Hiroshima and we will do some last-minute coordination," Kishida said, expressing his hope that the G7 summit serves to show an "unbreakable will" in defense of the international liberal order created after World War II with the idea that states must follow rules to coexist peacefully.

He also spoke of the importance of the bilateral relationship between Japan and the U.S. in safeguarding "peace" and "security" in the Indo-Pacific, an area that Washington tries to keep out of China's geopolitical influence.

For his part, Biden highlighted the "values" that unite the two nations, mentioned the support that the United States and Japan have given Ukraine so that it can defend its "sovereignty", and made reference to the sanctions imposed jointly against Russia.

Without mentioning China, the U.S. President also alluded to the need to defend a "free" and "open" Indo-Pacific, thanking Kishida for his country's cooperation on emerging technologies through university-enterprise agreements to advance in the field of quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing, an area in which China leads the world.

Although Biden reiterated his commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, analysts do not expect much progress on this issue. One of Kishida's priorities, however, is to bring about a reduction in nuclear arsenals in the United States, France and the United Kingdom, which are the three G7 countries with the most nuclear weapons.

In the coming days, Kishida, Biden, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G7.