US and Japan Strengthen Military Ties

[Pelican Press 0]

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US and Japan Strengthen Military Ties

The top diplomatic and defense officials from the ******* States and Japan announced on Sunday that their nations would take concrete steps to bolster their military alliance because of the growing threat from China in the region.

Those steps include establishing ****** forces that would answer to the ********* commander in the Indo-Pacific, according to a statement issued by the two governments’ top officials and the committee that they oversaw. They also call for increasing co-production of air-to-air missiles and air defense interceptor missiles.

The statement framed these changes in the alliance relationship mainly as a response to aggressive moves by China in East Asia. The statement focused on China’s actions in the East China Sea, South China Sea and beyond while also mentioning hostile activity by Russia and North Korea.

The governments reaffirmed the importance of the mutual-defense clause in their treaty because of the “increasingly severe security environment caused by recent moves of regional actors,” they said.

One of the top issues cited was the East China Sea, which Japan and China both claim part of. The ********* and ********* senior officials said their governments reiterated their strong opposition to China’s “intensifying attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion.”

The U.S. secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, and the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, were in Tokyo on Sunday to meet with their ********* counterparts in what is commonly called a 2+2 dialogue.

Such meetings take place regularly, but this one had added significance because of President Biden’s announcement last Sunday that he would not seek re-election. That means America will have a new leader in January, most likely either Kamala Harris, the current vice president, or Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden’s predecessor. So foreign leaders have many questions about how a new president will approach foreign policy and America’s alliances.

Allied officials know little about Ms. Harris, though they assume she would mostly continue Mr. Biden’s policies, since she is part of his administration. In Asia and Europe, the focus of those policies has been to enhance alliances. The officials are more concerned about the potential return to power of Mr. Trump, who has often criticized his nation’s military alliances as costly and not to America’s benefit.

Japan and South Korea, two countries where the ******* States has troops stationed, are among the most worried. Wary of a potential war involving China, North Korea or both, many ********* and Korean officials see the presence of U.S. troops and ******* systems as a crucial deterrent.

Mr. Biden’s actions have shown awareness of this. During a state visit to the ******* States by the ********* prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in April, the two leaders announced upgrades to military cooperation. In January, Japan signed an agreement with the ******* States to buy 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a cost of $1.7 billion.

The statement from Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin and their ********* counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara, ***** out details of further cooperation on weapons. One notable line said Japan planned to help produce more Patriot interceptor missiles, which the ******* States and allied nations have been supplying to Ukraine to aid in warding off Russian air attacks.

Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin plan to fly next to the Philippines, where they are to hold another 2+2 dialogue. ******** coast guard vessels and Philippine naval ships have clashed recently, but without gunfire, in contested waters of the South China Sea. The ******* States has issued statements reminding China that its treaty with the Philippines has a mutual-defense clause.

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