US, Japan pledge to work together to address challenges

WASHINGTON  -- US President Joe Biden and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday voiced commitment to further strengthening the two countries' alliance to address regional and global challenges.

In a joint press conference following their meeting, Biden said both sides affirmed support for the US-Japan alliance, and the two allies discussed cooperation in tackling the pandemic, emerging technology, climate change, and people-to-people exchanges.

Biden also said the two sides would work together to address the so-called challenges from China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Suga said he and Biden discussed "China's influence over the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and the world at large," while noting that the two countries agreed on the necessity of engaging in "frank dialogue with China."

According to a joint statement issued by the White House, the two allies also reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and "acknowledged the need to work with China on areas of common interest."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Friday that Japan and the United States should take China's concerns and demands seriously, avoid moves that interfere in China's internal affairs and undermine China's interests, and refrain from forming a clique targeting China.