President Joe Biden arrived in Hiroshima, Japan, on Thursday for his meeting with G7 leaders as the U.S. debt crisis casts a cloud over the global summit. On his flight to Japan, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan criticized reports that President Biden's cancellation of the Australia and Papua New Guinea portion of his trip was a win for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also invited the leaders of the Quad - which is made up of Australia, India, the United States and Japan - to join them at the G7 summit. Analysts have commented that President Biden's decision has cast doubt on U.S. credibility in the Pacific island region where Washington is competing with Beijing for influence.
As he arrives in Japan to meet with leaders from some of the world's most advanced economies, President Joe Biden faces criticism regarding his decision to skip side trips to Australia and Papua New Guinea due to ongoing debt ceiling negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Former White House deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates contended: "It's hard to argue with the fact that China is coming out on top of this particular exchange." However, White House aides dismissed concerns about diminished standing by drawing parallels between current events and former President Bill Clinton scrapping plans attending Japan’s G-7 summit during 1995 federal government shutdown.
In Hiroshima city itself, topics such as economic cooperation were discussed between Presidents Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida alongside promoting clean energy sources; secure energy supplies; establishing diverse critical minerals supply chains; responding collectively towards challenges posed by Ukraine war; North Korea nuclear missile program escalation; coercive behavior exhibited from China-related issues will be tackled during their bilateral meeting prior commencement