The United States and Japan have announced plans to strengthen their military alliance to help counter threats from North Korea and China, which they called the greatest security challenge in the region.
The Foreign and Defense Ministers for both U.S. and Japan met as part of the annual US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting, days before President Joe Biden plans to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House.
The U.S. and Japanese Foreign and Defense Ministers condemned China’s increasing aggressiveness in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere, called out Russia for its war with Ukraine and chastised North Korea for expanding its nuclear and missile programs.
In a joint statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts, Yoshimasa Hayashi and Yasukazu Hamada, noted that China poses an “unprecedented” threat to international order and swore to increase their efforts to counter it.
“China’s foreign policy seeks to reshape the international order to its benefit and to employ China’s growing political, economic, military, and technological power to that end. This behavior is of serious concern to the alliance and the entire international community, and represents the greatest strategic challenge in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
Joint statement
The four officials agreed to modify the American troop presence on the island of Okinawa in part to enhance anti-ship capabilities that would be needed in the event of a Chinese invasion into Taiwan or other hostile acts in the South or East China seas.
The officials also agreed to the stationing of a newly re-designated Marine unit with advanced intelligence, surveillance capabilities and the ability to fire anti-ship missiles.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin disclosed during a press conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu, that the 12th Marine Regiment, an artillery regiment, would be re-designated as the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment.
“We’re replacing an artillery regiment with an outfit that’s, that’s more lethal, more agile, more capable,” Austin said, reiterating that the act would “bolster deterrence in the region and allow us to defend Japan and its people more effectively.”
The newly restored Marine unit will be based on Okinawa and is intended to provide a stand-in force that is able to defend Japan and quickly respond to contingencies, US officials disclosed.
Okinawa is seen as crucial to the US military’s operations in the Pacific; in part because of its close proximity to Taiwan.
It houses more than 25,000 US military personnel and more than two dozen military installations. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, roughly 70% of the US military bases in Japan are on Okinawa; one island within the Okinawa Prefecture, Yonaguni, sits less than 70 miles from Taiwan.
The Agreement Reflects Effort To Deepen Cooperation
U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken remarked that the signed agreement reflects the two nations’ effort to deepen cooperation “across all realms,” including space, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
Blinken noted that the U.S.-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.”
President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida will have a meeting on Friday, January 13, 2023 at which they will underscore the importance of the relationship.
In their discussions on Friday, Biden is expected to raise the case of Lt. Ridge Alkonis, a U.S. Navy officer deployed to Japan who has been jailed after pleading guilty last year to the negligent driving deaths of two Japanese citizens in May 2021, according to a senior administration official.
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