In Talks With Japanese Prime Minister, Biden To Focus On Countering China

When President Biden welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the White House on Friday, concerns about the competition posed by China will be front and center in the talks.

It is Biden's first in-person visit with a foreign leader at the White House since he took office, and it sends a signal about how Biden plans to work through alliances to counter China.

"We have to shore up American competitiveness to meet the stiff competition we're facing from an increasingly assertive China," Biden said earlier this week, explaining his rationale for pulling American troops out of Afghanistan, which he said had diverted too much attention away from more critical issues.

"We have to strengthen our alliances and work with likeminded partners to ensure that the rules of international norms that govern cyber threats and emerging technologies that will shape our future are grounded in our democratic values, not those of the autocrats," Biden said.