Japan and the United States will hold bilateral security talks involving their foreign and defense ministers in Washington next week, the U.S. State Department said Thursday, as the two countries continue to deepen their ties amid China's assertiveness and North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
During the so-called two-plus-two meeting on Wednesday, the two countries plan to discuss their "shared vision of a modernized alliance that will tackle 21st-century challenges in the Indo-Pacific and around the world," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
The talks will take place ahead of a planned meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Jan. 13, with Kishida making his first visit to the White House since taking office in October 2021.
Tokyo has recently marked a major shift in its security policy under the pacifist Constitution, with plans to significantly boost defense spending and acquire long-range strike capabilities.
The upcoming two-plus-two talks at the State Department will see U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meeting with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, Price said.
