The leaders of the US and Japan have gone far beyond Asia, raising the issue of instability in Europe and condemning Russia's war against Ukraine.
In a joint statement on the 13th, the two leaders said, "We strongly oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion anywhere in the world."
The Asahi Shimbun reported on the 11th that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration of South Korea has entered into final coordination of a solution to compensate the plaintiffs in the lawsuit through donations from both Korea and Japan in negotiations on compensation for forced labor (forced laborers under Japanese colonial rule), a pending issue in Korea-Japan relations.
The Asahi Shimbun reported on the 11th. Citing officials, the Korean government agreed as a solution that the Japanese Forced Mobilization Victims Support Foundation, established by the Korean government and companies, is preparing a plan to pay the plaintiffs by receiving donations from companies on both sides and repaying the amount of compensation instead. has revealed
The US-Japan summit will build on previous economic cooperation to "strengthen our common advantage in economic security, including the protection and promotion of critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors," a joint statement said, "leading clean energy efforts and standards of non-proliferation. We will cooperate in nuclear energy while maintaining it.”
The New York Times reported on the same day that “US officials have been working with Japan and the Netherlands to agree on ambitious export controls that further restrict the sale of semiconductor manufacturing technology to China,” and “their interests go far beyond Asia.”
Reuters described the US-Japan summit at the White House as “persuading Japan to the US’ efforts” in an article titled “Why the US Needs Japan’s Help in Restricting Chinese Chips” on the 12th.
At a joint press conference, President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida said, “These shared values of democracy are the source of our strength, the source of our alliance, and the source we can provide for all citizens.”
President Biden then said it was important to support democracy from internal and external threats, and the NYT said, “He and his aides consider Japan one of the most important democratic governments in Asia.”
President Seok-Yeol Yoon, who toured the G7 and the UN General Assembly last year, announced the Republican-style “free solidarity,” widening the gap with the Democratic Party Biden, and pressuring the Biden administration with “development of nuclear weapons” as a strategy.
In a speech at the Johns Hopkins Graduate School of Advanced International Studies following the White House summit, Prime Minister Kishida said, “China is a key challenge for both Japan and the United States. needed," he said.
Prior to meeting with President Biden at the White House, Prime Minister Kishida visited Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Canada to build security ties that could help defend China, North Korea and Russia.
“With Washington’s support, Japan is seeking new security partners to support it either militarily or diplomatically,” said Reuters. As a member of the Quad Group, he is seeking close security ties with India, meeting regularly with Japan, the US and Australia to discuss regional diplomacy. On January 11, during a tour of the G7 member states in London, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signed a Mutual Access Defense Agreement to make it easier for our two countries to conduct military exercises in each other's territories.”
The close defense relationship between the two countries, facilitated by Japan paving the way for Britain to enter Asia, enabled the dispatch of the new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier to Japan last year and the permanent deployment of two battleships in Asian waters.
Japan launched its first international defense project with a country other than the United States in World War II, announcing projects with Britain and Italy to build a new jet fighter last December.
The Biden administration attempted to improve relations with Korea through a trilateral alliance between Korea, the United States and Japan, and opened the way for cooperation in military training between Korea and Japan.
On the 17th, at the White House, the Biden administration announced a meeting between the US and Japan and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Lute at the White House for an alliance of’similar equipment curb placement’ with Japan’s Tokyo Electronic and Dutch ASML Holding NV, the top producers of chip manufacturing equipment in Japan and the Netherlands, for export control to China. Hold a three-way meeting.
Prior to the US-Japan White House summit, Prime Minister Kishida met with President Biden on the South Lawn of the White House before noon immediately after breakfast with US Vice President Kamala Harris at the official residence of the US Naval Observatory.
Reuters reported on the 12th that the Biden administration’s’imposition of self-matching restrictions’ on US allies, which is key in the aggressive export controls for Chinese advanced semiconductor control in October of last year, was omitted.
A senior Biden administration official admitted to Reuters on the 11th that the control strategy was flawed in October of last year, saying, “Japan’s restrictions on chip exports may not be exactly the same as US control.”
"But I don't think the Japanese are questioning the basic premise that we have to work closely together on this," he said.
<The reason why the US needs Japan's help in limiting Chinese chips> According to a Reuters analysis, the US-Japan summit was "convincing Japan of the US' efforts," and pointed out 'chip manufacturing equipment' as the main player in controlling Chinese chips.
Behind the U.S. push for advanced export controls are warnings about China's arms buildup and efforts to outsmart the U.S. in technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, while U.S. officials fearful of giving China a military advantage are pushing back with the most sophisticated chips and chips. It has employed a strategy of slowing down China's advances in advanced technologies by keeping the tools needed to build them out of China's hands.
Realistically, the U.S. strategy is only possible if Japan and the Netherlands impose their own export controls, and China is fighting back, with U.S. companies targeting a loss of market share and finding other ways to obtain needed equipment.
Negotiations between the Netherlands and the United States are pending, and Reuters reported that a Dutch tool manufacturing executive said ASML would not be severely affected by its extensive customer network outside of China if the Dutch government imposed similar export controls on the industry. did.
Commenting on American diplomacy and the chip war, Tufts University professor Chris Miller, author of The Chip War, said, “As Japan comes on board on the chipmaking tool side, the United States has a lot to say about China's ability to develop its own domestic chipmaking. 'Hurdle' can be put," he told Reuters.
Reuters analyzed that the diplomatic rise of Japan's manufacturing equipment capabilities in the Biden administration's Chinese chip control strategy will bring a multifaceted knock-on effect to China's high-tech ambitions, including artificial intelligence (AI).
An official from the chip industry, who participated in Japan's export restriction strategy, expressed Japan's superior position, saying, "Japanese companies can make up for lost business in China by expanding to other places such as Southeast Asia."
South Korea, a bridgehead of anti-Japanese sentiment in Japan's diplomatic expansion centered on Southeast Asia, has enjoyed a strategic advantage with its compensation policy with Japan and control of diplomatic negotiations with North Korea (the abduction issue). This supports Japan's international power strategy.
<Refer to the US-Japan foreign affairs and defense four-person meeting “North Korea, China, and Russia condemnation” and Britain and Japan’s “mutual dispatch of troops”, dated January 12, 2023>
<President Yoon’s ‘recommendation to spread freedom’, UN Charter ‘prohibition of recommendation by member states’, violations Chile’s ‘better distribution of wealth’, Seok-yeol Yoon ‘removal of freedom threats through international solidarity’, see September 21, 2022>