Japan won’t forgive Joe Biden for his xenophobia gaffe

Joe Biden just threw a particularly nasty insult the way of Japan, a close ally of the United States, at a campaign event. The president accused the Japanese, along with China, Russia, and India, of being ‘xenophobic’ in their reluctance to admit large numbers of immigrants, and of damaging their economies as a consequence: ‘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 make us strong,’ he told a Washington fundraiser on Wednesday.

The insult is being especially keenly felt over here in Tokyo; it comes less than a month after a lavish and carefully choreographed love in between Biden and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida. There was a marching band, a formal state dinner, and an atmosphere of mutual admiration all designed to present the two leaders as not just staunch allies but bosom buddies.