TOKYO (AP) \u2014 Japan and India on Saturday decried remarks by\u00a0U.S. President Joe Biden\u00a0describing them as \u201cxenophobic\u201d countries that do not welcome immigrants, which the president said during a campaign fundraising event earlier in the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan said Biden\u2019s judgment was not based on an accurate understanding of its policy, while India rebutted the comment, defending itself as the world\u2019s most open society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden grouped Japan and India as \u201cxenophobic\u201d\u00a0countries, along with Russia and China as he tried to explain their struggling economies, contrasting the four with the strength of the U.S. as a nation of immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan is a key U.S. ally, and both Japan and India are part of the Quad, a U.S.-led informal partnership that also includes Australia in countering increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just weeks ago,\u00a0Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on an official visit, as the two leaders restated their \u201cunbreakable alliance\u201d and agreed to reinforce their security ties in the face of China\u2019s threat in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi\u00a0also made a state visit to Washington last year, when he was welcomed by business and political leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House said Biden meant no offense and was merely stressing that the U.S. was a nation of immigrants, saying he had no intention of undermining the relationship with Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan is aware of Biden\u2019s remark as well as the subsequent clarification, a Japanese government official said Saturday, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official said it was unfortunate that part of Biden\u2019s speech was not based on an accurate understanding of Japanese policies, and that Japan understands that Biden made the remark to emphasize the presence of immigrants as America\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan-U.S. relations are \u201cstronger than ever\u201d as Prime Minister Kishida showed during his visit to the U.S. in April, the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In New Delhi, India\u2019s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday also rebutted Biden\u2019s comment, saying India was the most open society in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I haven\u2019t seen such an open, pluralistic, and diverse society anywhere in the world. We are actually not just not xenophobic, we are the most open, most pluralistic and in many ways the most understanding society in the world,\u201d Jaishankar said at a roundtable organized by the Economic Times newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jaishankar also noted that India\u2019s annual GDP growth is 7% and said, \u201cYou check some other countries\u2019 growth rate, you will find an answer.\u201d The U.S. economy grew by 2.5% in 2023, according to government figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a hotel fundraiser Wednesday, where the donor audience was largely Asian American, Biden said the upcoming U.S. election was about \u201cfreedom, America and democracy\u201d and that the nation\u2019s economy was thriving \u201cbecause of you and many others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy? Because we welcome immigrants,\u201d Biden said. \u201cLook, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they\u2019re xenophobic. They don\u2019t want immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan has been known for a strict stance on immigration. But in recent years, it has eased its policies to make it easier for foreign workers to come and stay in Japan as a way to mitigate its declining births and rapidly shrinking population. The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to a record low since Japan started compiling the statistics in 1899.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India, which has the world\u2019s largest population, enacted a new citizenship law earlier this year by setting religious criteria that allows fast-tracking naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, while excluding Muslims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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