Japanese and US defense chiefs and top diplomats yesterday agreed to further bolster their military cooperation by upgrading the command and control of US forces in the East Asian country and enhancing US-licensed missile production there, describing the rising threat from China as “the greatest strategic challenge.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin joined Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa and Japanese Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara at the Japan-US Security Consultative Committee in Tokyo, known as “2+2” security talks where they reaffirmed their bilateral alliance following US President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the November presidential race.
Japan is home to more than 50,000 US troops, but the commander for the US Forces Japan (USFJ) headquartered in Yokota in the western suburbs of Tokyo, tasked with managing their bases, has no commanding authority. Instead, instructions come from the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii.
Photo: Reuters
The plans would give the USFJ greater capability while still reporting to the US Indo-Pacific Command.
The command upgrade “will be the most significant change to the US Forces Japan since its creation and one of the strongest improvements in our military ties with Japan in 70 years,” Austin said. “These new operational capabilities and responsibilities will advance our collective deterrence.”
“We are standing at a historic turning point as the rules-based, free and open international order is shaken to the core,” Kamikawa said. “Now is a critical phase when our decision today determines our future.”
Austin, in his opening remarks, said China is “engaging in coercive behavior, trying to change the status quo in the East and South China seas, around Taiwan and throughout the region,” adding that North Korea’s nuclear program and deepening cooperation with Russia “threaten regional and global security.”
In the joint statement issued after the talks, the ministers said that China’s foreign policy “seeks to reshape the international order for its own benefit at the expense of others” and that “such behavior is a serious concern to the alliance and the entire international community and represents the greatest strategic challenge in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
The ministers said the US command reorganization, set for March next year to be in line with Japan’s own command updating, aimed “to facilitate deeper interoperability and cooperation on joint bilateral operations in peacetime and during contingencies” and enhance intelligence coordination, surveillance, reconnaissance and cybersecurity.
The new US command in Japan would be led by a three-star general, not the four-star sought by Japan, but Austin said “we haven’t ruled that out” and would keep negotiating.
Earlier yesterday, ahead of the 2+2 talks, Kihara met with Austin and South Korean Minister of Defense Shin Won-sik for their first trilateral defense talks hosted by Tokyo and signed a memorandum based on their agreement in Singapore last month that institutionalizes their regular high-level talks, joint exercises and other exchanges.
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