US, Japan to work together to handle 'challenges' posed by China: Biden

Affirming his "ironclad" support for the US-Japanese alliance, President Joe Biden on Friday said that both the countries are committed to work together to take on the challenges posed by China to ensure the future of free and open Indo-Pacific.

"Today, Prime Minister Suga and I affirmed our iron-clad support for the US-Japanese alliance and for our shared security. We committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea, the South China Sea as well as North Korea to ensure the future of our free and open Indo-Pacific," Biden said after a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

"Our commitment to meet in person is indicative of the importance and value we place on this relationship between Japan and the United States," he added.

This statement comes amid growing aggression from China in East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Biden said that Japan and the United States are two strong democracies in the region and we are committed to defending and advancing our shared values and including human rights and rule of law.

"Today, we are announcing a new competitive and reliance partnership (CORE) between Japan and the United States that will enhance our ability to meet the pressing challenges of time. Together meet those challenges," he added.

The United States and Japan will increase cooperation on 5G telecommunications, supply chains for semiconductors, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence, Biden said.

"We're going to work together across a range of fields, from promoting secure and reliable 5G networks, to increasing our cooperation on supply chains for critical sectors like semiconductors, to driving joint research in areas like AI, genomics, quantum computing and much more," Biden added.

This meeting is their first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office in January.