London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers remarks during a visit with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other U.S. and Japanese officials to NASA headquarters in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Japan, US and Europe must act together on China, PM Kishida says

If Russia’s use of force against Ukraine goes ‘unchallenged, it will happen elsewhere in the world, including Asia’, Japan’s prime minister says.
Japan, the United States and Europe must act in unison on China, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in Washington, DC, during a visit aimed at enhancing Tokyo’s alliance with the US in the face of growing challenges from Beijing.

China is the central challenge for both Japan and the US as China’s vision for the international order differs from the views of Tokyo and Washington in some ways the allies “can never accept”, Kishida said.

“It is absolutely imperative for Japan, the United States and Europe to stand united in managing our respective relationship with China,” the Japanese prime minister said in a speech on Friday at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Russia’s war against Ukraine marked the “complete end” of the post-Cold War world order and if Moscow’s use of force goes “unchallenged, it will happen elsewhere in the world, including Asia”, he said.

“The international community is at a historical turning point. The free, open and stable international order that we have dedicated ourselves to upholding is now in grave danger,” Kishida said.

“We will never allow any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force and we will reinforce our deterrence.”

Kishida reiterated Japan’s concern about China’s military activities near disputed islets in the East China Sea – known as the Senkaku Islands in Japanese and the Diaoyu Islands in Chinese – as well as China’s launch of ballistic missiles last year that landed in waters near Japan.

Meeting with Kishida earlier at the White House, US President Joe Biden said the US remained strongly committed to its alliance with Japan and praised Tokyo’s “historic” defence build-up announced last month.

“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.

Japan last month announced its biggest military build-up since World War II, in a dramatic departure from seven decades of pacifism, fuelled by concerns about Chinese actions in the region. The increase will see Japan boost its defence budget for 2023 to a record 6.8 trillion yen ($55bn), or a 20 percent increase in spending, which comes in the face of regional security concerns, including threats posed by China and North Korea.

As part of that new defence policy, Japan is going on a shopping spree and looking to buy hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles, which currently are only in the arsenals of the US and the UK. Japan will also for the first time develop a “counter-strike” capability, which means being able to hit launch sites for missiles that threaten it.

In talks this week between the Japanese foreign and defence ministers and their US counterparts, the two countries also agreed that attacks in space could invoke their mutual defence treaty amid rapid Chinese work on satellites.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also signed an agreement to cooperate on space exploration on Friday.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
×