The United States and Japan have announced plans to strengthen their security cooperation in the face of shared concerns about China.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the two countries said China posed “an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge” threat to international order and pledged to position their alliance to “prevail in a new era of strategic competition.”
The statement was issued by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts, Yoshimasa Hayashi and Yasukazu Hamada.
The four men agreed to adjust the American troop presence on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, in part, to enhance anti-ship capabilities that would be needed in the event of a Chinese incursion into Taiwan or other hostile acts in the South or East China Seas.
“The Ministers reiterated their strong opposition to China’s intensified attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea, including through actions that seek to undermine Japan’s longstanding administration of the Senkaku Islands”.
They also added a formal mention of outer space in the longstanding US-Japan security treaty, making clear that “attacks to, from, and within space” could trigger the mutual defense provisions of the treaty. This had previously been outside the scope of the agreement.
In addition, the US space agency NASA plans to sign a cooperation deal with Japan on Friday.
Blinken said the agreement reflects the two nations’ effort to deepen cooperation “across all realms,” including space, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. He said the US-Japan alliance has “been the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, ensuring the security, the liberty and prosperity of our people and people across the region.”
The discussions will be followed by a meeting on Friday between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, where they will underscore the importance of the relationship. Kishida, on a week-long trip to visit allies in Europe and North America, signed a defense agreement with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday that strengthens military ties between the two countries, also in response to China.
The changes in the US deployment on Okinawa will transform the 12th Marine Regiment into a smaller, more rapidly mobile unit – the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment. This will be designed to be better equipped to fight any adversary and defend the US and its allies in the region. Austin said the regiment will bring “tremendous” capabilities to the region as a “more lethal, more agile, more capable” military unit.
US officials said the decision to optimize the American military presence on Okinawa will not increase the number of marines on the island and does not come with any significant change in weapons capability.
The parties also emphasized the importance of further deepening their cooperation with the Republic of Korea and exploring opportunities for multilateral and trilateral exercises and other activities, including in areas such as ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, maritime security, search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief.
“In the face of the DPRK’s unlawful and reckless missile launches – including the launch of a long-range ballistic missile over Japan in October – we’re deepening our trilateral cooperation with the Republic of Korea to deter and, if necessary, defend against aggression. That’s a pledge the leaders of our three countries underscored in their November trilateral summit”, Secretary Blinken said.
“On North Korea, we strongly accused them for the launch of ballistic missiles during the past year at unprecedented frequency, and reaffirmed our unwavering commitment towards the complete denuclearization of North Korea based on UN Security Council resolutions,” Minister Hayashi added via an interpreter.