Japan on Friday denied U.S. President Joe Biden's claim that he convinced Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to boost Tokyo's defense spending, saying it had objected to the comments in a rare public airing of a disagreement with its security ally.The denial came after Biden said at a campaign reception in California earlier this week that Japan has increased its defense expenditures "exponentially" as a result of his persuasion of Kishida during their past three talks.Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Tokyo has told Washington that Biden's remarks were "misleading" as Japan decided t…READ FULL ARTICLE