Joe Biden faces criticism for saying allies India, Japan are ‘xenophobic’ and ‘don’t want immigrants’
- US president tries to make case that countries would improve economically if they welcomed immigrants, but some warn that his words may be a diplomatic blunder
- The reason China, Japan, India and Russia are facing economic headwinds is because ‘they’re xenophobic’, Biden says at campaign fundraiser
US President Joe Biden is facing a backlash in some quarters for characterising India and Japan as “xenophobic” for “not wanting immigrants”, with warnings about a potential diplomatic blunder given Washington’s strengthened ties with the Asian powers to counter China.
Biden’s remarks, which were made on Wednesday night at a campaign fundraising event in Washington where the audience was largely Asian-American, came just weeks after hosting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a state visit at the White House.
Biden said that “one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants”.
Lumping both adversaries and allies together, he added that the reason why China, Japan, India and Russia were facing economic headwinds was because “they’re xenophobic”.
“They don’t want immigrants,” he said.
03:45
US, Japan hail upgraded ties, unveil raft of bilateral deals following Biden-Kishida summit
The Japanese and Indian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and neither country has issued a formal response.