The U.S. and Japan will announce a historic upgrade in security ties to counter China

HONG KONG — The United States and Japan are set to announce a historic upgrade to their security alliance on Wednesday, as President Joe Biden hosts Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for an official visit that will highlight Japan’s role in countering China in the Asia-Pacific.

The state visit, the first by a Japanese leader in nine years, also comes amid differences between the two countries over the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by a Japanese company.

On Tuesday, the Bidens welcomed Kishida and his wife at the White House before having dinner. The Biden-Kishida summit on Wednesday will be followed by a formal state dinner featuring dry-aged rib eye steak, cherry blossoms and a performance by Paul Simon.

On Thursday, Kishida will address a joint session of Congress, only the second Japanese leader to do so after then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2015. Then he will participate in trilateral talks with the U.S. and the Philippines that are the first of their kind.

Kishida concludes his trip with a Friday stop in North Carolina, where according to Japanese media he will visit the construction site of a new EV battery factory for Japanese automaker Toyota that is expected to generate 5,000 jobs for American workers.

In recent years, Japan has experienced a “sea change” in its perceptions of its security environment, as well as its role in it, said John Hemmings, senior associate director at the Pacific Forum research institute in Honolulu.

“They’ve become this sort of key enabler for the evolution of our security architecture,” he said.

Since taking office in 2021, Kishida has increased defense spending in Japan, a major shift in a country whose pacifist constitution has limited its military to self-defense since