TOKYO (AP) — Japan and India on Saturday decried remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden describing them as “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, which the president said during a campaign fundraising event earlier in the week.
Japan said Biden's judgment was not based on an accurate understanding of its policy, while India rebutted the comment, defending itself as the world’s most open society.
Biden grouped Japan and India as “xenophobic” countries, 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.
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.
Just weeks ago, Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on an official visit, as the two leaders restated their “unbreakable alliance” and agreed to reinforce their security ties in the face of China’s threat in the Indo-Pacific.
Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi also made a state visit to Washington last year, when he was welcomed by business and political leaders.
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.
Japan is aware of Biden's remark as well as the subsequent clarification, a Japanese government official said Saturday, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The official said it was unfortunate that part of Biden's 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’s strength.
Japan-U.S. relations are “stronger than ever” as Prime Minister Kishida showed during his visit to the U.S. in April, the official said.
In New Delhi, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday also rebutted Biden’s comment, saying India was the most open society in the world.
``I haven’t 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,” Jaishankar said at a roundtable organized by the Economic Times newspaper.
Jaishankar also noted that India’s annual GDP growth is 7% and said, “You check some other countries’ growth rate, you will find an answer.” The U.S. economy grew by 2.5% in 2023, according to government figures.
At a hotel fundraiser Wednesday, where the donor audience was largely Asian American, Biden said the upcoming U.S. election was about “freedom, America and democracy” and that the nation’s economy was thriving “because of you and many others.”
“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.”
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.
India, which has the world’s 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.
AP writers Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - President Joe Biden arrives on Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, April 30, 2024.. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
PEZINOK, Slovakia (AP) — Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico ’s condition was stable but serious Saturday as the man accused of trying to assassinate him faced his first court appearance.
Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova said two-hour surgery Friday to remove dead tissue from multiple gunshot wounds “contributed to a positive prognosis” for Fico.
Defense Minister Robert Kalinak said his condition still makes it impossible to transport him to the capital, Bratislava.
The update on Fico’s condition came as the man accused of attempting to assassinate him made his first court appearance Saturday, Slovak state media said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
PEZINOK, Slovakia (AP) — The man accused of attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico made his first court appearance Saturday as the nation’s leader remained in serious condition recovering from surgery after surviving multiple gunshots, Slovak state media said.
Fico, 59, was attacked as he greeted supporters following a government meeting Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova. The suspect was tackled to the ground and arrested.
Prosecutors are seeking an order from Slovakia’s Specialized Criminal Court to detain the suspect.
Prosecutors told police not to publicly identify the suspect or release other details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a mall security guard in the country’s southwest.
Government authorities gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect didn’t belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated.
The courthouse in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by officers wearing balaclavas and carrying rifles. News media were not allowed in the courthouse and reporters were kept behind a gate outside.
Police on Friday had taken the suspect to his home in the town of Levice and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station reported. Police didn’t comment.
Fico underwent another round of surgery Friday to remove dead tissue from his body, said Miriam Lapuníková, director of the University F. D. Roosevelt hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after he was shot.
He also underwent a CT scan and was awake and stable in an intensive care unit. She described his condition as “very serious.”
World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Fico and Slovakia.
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine.
At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time serving as prime minister.
Fico’s government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting — a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, have led opponents to worry that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path.
Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies.
Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions.
Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged.
His plan to overhaul the penal system would eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism.
Journalists gather as they wait for the suspect, in shooting of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, to be brought to court in Pezinok, Slovakia, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Officials in Slovakia say Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after his assassination attempt and remains in serious condition. (AP Photo/Tomas Benedikovic)
Policemen guard the area as they wait for the suspect, in shooting of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, to be brought to court in Pezinok, Slovakia, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Officials in Slovakia say Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after his assassination attempt and remains in serious condition. (AP Photo/Tomas Benedikovic)
Policemen guard the area as convoy brings the suspect, in shooting of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, to court in Pezinok, Slovakia, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Officials in Slovakia say Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after his assassination attempt and remains in serious condition. (AP Photo/Tomas Benedikovic)
FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. A man charged with attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was escorted by police to his home on the morning of Friday, May 17, 2024, with media saying that it was part of a search for evidence. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
Policemen guard the area as convoy brings the suspect, in shooting of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, to court in Pezinok, Slovakia, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Officials in Slovakia say Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after his assassination attempt and remains in serious condition. (AP Photo/Tomas Benedikovic)
