Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with India, China
Japan and India are struggling economically because they are “xenophobic,” US President Joe Biden told a campaign event, lumping the American allies in with rivals China and Russia as countries rejecting immigrants.
“Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan in trouble? Why is Russia in trouble? And India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants,” Biden said on Wednesday, with a transcript not made public until Thursday.
The 81-year-old Democrat, who is seeking reelection against Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential vote, made the remarks at a campaign fundraising event in Washington marking the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month.
Such events are neither filmed nor recorded, but a small number of journalists attend and provide a written account.
“One of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” the president said.
While China and Russia are considered US rivals, Biden’s remarks on Japan and India came as a surprise.
Since taking office in 2021, Biden has made a point of strengthening ties with US allies in Asia, in particular with New Delhi and Tokyo.
He has hosted state dinners — a rare high-level diplomatic gesture — for both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The White House sought to downplay the president’s remarks on Thursday.
“The broader point the president was making, and I think people all around the world recognize this, is that the United States is a nation of immigrants, and it’s in our DNA,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“Our allies know very well how much the president respects them, values their friendship, values their contributions,” he added.
KETTLE CALLING POT BLACK
Joe Biden calls US allies India and Japan 'xenophobic'
By Bernd Debusmann Jr ,BBC News, Washington
US President Joe Biden has called Japan and India "xenophobic", grouping them together with Russia and China as countries that "don't want immigrants".
His criticism of Japan comes just weeks after he called the US-Japan alliance "unbreakable" during a state visit from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
India is also a key US partner, despite US concerns about human rights and religious freedoms there.
The White House says that Mr Biden meant no offence to either country.
Speaking to a predominantly Asian-American audience at a campaign fundraising event on Wednesday evening, Mr Biden said that the US election this November was about "freedom, America and democracy".
"Why? Because we welcome immigrants," he added. "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."
The BBC has contacted the US embassies of Japan, India, China and Russia for comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.
The comments, however, have drawn criticism from observers in the US.
On X, formerly Twitter, Elbridge Colby, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence in the Trump administration, wrote 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 added. "Applying parochial progressive views to our allies is patronising and foolish."
The White House denied that the comments were meant in a derogatory sense, with national security spokesman John Kirby saying he was making a wider point on US immigration policy.
"Our allies and partners know well in tangible ways how President Biden values them, their friendship, their co-operation" Mr Kirby said. "They understand how much he completely and utterly values the idea of alliances and partnerships."
Sadanand Dhume, a South Asia expert at the Washington DC-based American Enterprise Institute, told the BBC that Mr Biden's comments would probably be received poorly in India as it experiences a "nationalist upsurge".
"It will confirm the idea among a section of Indians that Mr Biden is not friendly to India," he said. "They will not take kindly to having been clubbed along with authoritarian countries like China."
In late April, a US Department of State report found "significant" human rights abuses in India, which its government said "is deeply biased and reflects a very poor understanding of India."
In the longer term, however, Mr Dhume said that remarks are a "tempest in a teacup" and "unlikely to significantly affect US-Indian relations."
While Japan has for decades had some of the world's most restrictive immigration policies, it has recently sought to address a steadily shrinking population by facilitating the entry of foreign workers.
Mr Biden, who repeatedly characterised former US President Donald Trump as xenophobic during his 2020 campaign, has taken an increasingly restrictive approach to immigration amid widespread anger - from both sides of the political spectrum - over his handling of the US-Mexico border.
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