U.S. President Joe Biden has called Japan and India as “xenophobic” countries for not welcoming immigrants, also lumping these two countries with China and Russia, for all sharing the similarity of not wanting immigrants.
These comments were made at a recent campaign fundraising event, which follows just three weeks prior, when he called US and Japan’s alliance as “unbreakable”, during when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid a visit to the White House. Japan is a crucial ally to the US, as well as India, one of the fastest growing economies despite US concerns of human rights and religious freedoms there.
At a recent campaign fundraising event, President Biden explained to a mainly Asian-American audience that the next US election was about “freedom, America and democracy”.
“Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” Biden said. “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.”
President Biden also stated, “Immigrants are what makes us strong. Not a joke. That’s not hyperbole, because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and want to contribute.”
Both the Japanese as well as the Indian government did provide any immediate response. John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman stated that President Biden’s comments were not intended to disparage the other countries, but simply to show a point on US immigration policy.
“Our allies and partners know well in tangible ways how President Biden values them, their friendship, their cooperation and the capabilities that they bring across the spectrum on a range of issues, not just security related,” Kirby said, “They understand how much he completely and utterly values the idea of alliances and partnerships.”
However, these comments have led to many to many to criticize. Former US deputy assistant secretary of defense under the Trump administration, Elbridge Colby, stated on X that that Japan and India “are two of our very stoutest and important allies”. “We should speak to them with respect, which they command and deserve,” he explained. “Applying parochial progressive views to our allies is patronizing and foolish.”
Written by Kevin Han
