Chicago – September 22, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed diplomacy with China and their shared concerns over “coercive and destabilizing activities” in the South China Sea during a meeting on Saturday at the Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, the White House said.
Biden and Kishida also reiterated their resolve to maintain peace across the Taiwan strait and commitment to developing and protecting technologies like AI and semiconductors, the White House said.
The talks in Wilmington, in the twilight of Biden’s one-term presidency, reflect the importance that the 81-year-old has placed on the so-called “Quad” group as a counterweight to Beijing.
In a personal touch, Biden hosted Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his home in the city for private one-on-one meetings on Saturday.
He hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese there on Friday night.
The media were given no access to the meetings. Biden posted pictures on social media of him with Albanese and then with Kishida in a wood-paneled drawing room in his house, and showing them the view of a lake from a verandah.
The White House said in readouts of Biden’s meetings with the Australian and Japanese leaders that they had discussed “their shared concerns about the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China’s) coercive and destabilizing activities, including in the South China Sea.”
Both statements also said the leaders backed “maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” — referring to tensions over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China claims as its territory, to be reunited by force if necessary.
