President Joe Biden said that Japan, along with three other countries, was struggling economically due to its refusal to accept immigrants.
The Japanese embassy on Friday rejected President Joe Biden’s recent comments that labeled Japan—along with three other countries—as “xenophobic,” calling the president’s remarks “unfortunate.”
At a Washington fundraising event on May 1, President Biden grouped U.S. allies Japan and India with U.S. adversaries China and Russia, saying their economic challenges arise from their refusal to accept immigrants.
“Look, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants,” he added.
The Japanese embassy has refuted his comments, saying that it was “unfortunate that some of the comments were not based on an accurate understanding of Japan’s policies,” Politico reported.
“We have raised this point to the U.S. government and explained Japan’s positions and policies once again,” the embassy told the news outlet.
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later clarified that the president’s intention was to convey a broader message that the United States is “a nation of immigrants.”
Japan said it acknowledged the U.S. clarification that President Biden’s comment “was not made with the intent of undermining the importance and permanence of the Japan-U.S. relationship.”
His remarks come just a month after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made an official visit to Washington in early April, during which the leaders discussed deepening cooperation between their countries in defense and security, and other sectors.
The White House stated that the countries’ militaries will cooperate with a joint command structure and they will, together with Australia, develop a new air missile defense network.
The United States and its allies, including Japan, have been bolstering their militaries to counter what they see as a growing threat from China in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
“When I meet other world leaders, I say, ‘Would you trade places with China? Would you trade places with their problems?’ They’ve got a population that is more people in retirement than working,” he said. “They’re xenophobic—nobody else coming in. They’ve got real problems.”
Eva Fu and Reuters contributed to this report.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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