Japan Tells US That Biden’s ‘Xenophobia’ Comment Is Regrettable 

US President Joe Biden speaks during a Cinco de Mayo reception in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2024. (EPA)
US President Joe Biden speaks during a Cinco de Mayo reception in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2024. (EPA)
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Japan Tells US That Biden’s ‘Xenophobia’ Comment Is Regrettable 

US President Joe Biden speaks during a Cinco de Mayo reception in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2024. (EPA)
US President Joe Biden speaks during a Cinco de Mayo reception in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2024. (EPA)

Japan has described as "regrettable" US President Joe Biden's comment that "xenophobia" is stifling the Asian nation's economic growth, the top government spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Last week Biden said "xenophobia" in economies from China to Japan and India was hobbling their growth, while arguing at a Washington fund-raising event that migration has been good for the US economy.

"We lodged representations to the United States that the comment was not based on the correct understanding of Japan's policy and regrettable," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular news conference, without elaborating.

Hayashi was quick to add, however, that Japan's ties with its security ally the United States were more solid than ever, and Tokyo will strive to make them even stronger.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Washington in April for a summit with Biden and unveiled plans for military co-operation and projects from missiles to moon landings, so as to strengthen ties with an eye to countering China and Russia.

At last week's event to raise funds for his 2024 re-election campaign, Biden said, "One of the reasons why our economy's growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants."

"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. Immigrants are what makes us strong."

Japan, which prides itself on its homogeneity, has long been reticent about immigration, although its falling birth rate and a rapidly ageing population point to an acute labor shortage in the coming decades.

Asked in a Newsweek interview if he wanted to spur immigration to reverse the population decline, Kishida said Japan must consider inviting skilled workers, but ruled out a full-fledged immigration program.

"For highly capable and motivated workers to be invited into Japan to provide support to Japanese society is what we would like to enable," Kishida said in the interview, published last week.

"There are still some in Japanese society who are resistant to the idea of continuous, indefinite immigration of labor from overseas."



US House Speaker Johnson Will Travel to Israel on June 22 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
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US House Speaker Johnson Will Travel to Israel on June 22 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the RNC near the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)

US House Speaker Mike Johnson will travel to Israel to address the parliament on June 22, he said on Wednesday.

"Our ties run deeper than military partnerships and trade agreements," Johnson said in an emailed statement.

Punchbowl News, which first reported Johnson's plan, said the House Speaker was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem during the trip.

Johnson did not provide further details on the planned trip.

Johnson announced the visit as Israel presses on with its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, more than 20 months after it launched its offensive there in response to a deadly incursion into Israel led by the Palestinian group Hamas.

On Tuesday, Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel called the action "outrageous" and said the Israeli government would hold a meeting early next week to decide how to respond.