Japan to join U.S.-led economic framework during Biden visit.
As the Kyodo News has reported on May 18, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to announce during President Joe Biden's visit to Japan that Tokyo will join a U.S.-led Indo-Pacific economic initiative in a bid to counter a more assertive China, Japanese government officials said Wednesday.
Japan's potential participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, however, will not change Tokyo's stance of seeking Washington's return to a Pacific free trade pact that China, along with Taiwan, is now planning to accede to, Japan's top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said.
