
TOKYO -- As Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga flew to Washington to become the first foreign leader to meet U.S. President Joe Biden in person, the two treaty allies were still hammering out the finer details of the talks.
"I want to cultivate trust with Mr. Biden, and further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance by which we are united by the universal values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Suga told reporters in Tokyo before departure on Thursday evening. "To realize a free and open Indo-Pacific, I want to demonstrate to the world the leadership of Japan and the U.S."