The United States will overhaul its military forces in Japan as the two countries move to deepen defense cooperation, Washington and Tokyo said Sunday, in a sweeping step to modernize their alliance in the face of mounting security threats in Asia
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Japanese counterparts Minoru Kihara and Yoko Kamikawa announced the plan in a joint statement following a meeting in Tokyo, where they also called China’s “political, economic, and military coercion” the “greatest strategic challenge” in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Under the new plan, US forces in Japan would be “reconstituted” as a joint force headquarters reporting to the Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command to “facilitate deeper interoperability and cooperation on joint bilateral operations in peacetime and during contingencies,” according to the statement.
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Submission Statement:
The United States will overhaul its military forces in Japan as the two countries move to deepen defense cooperation, Washington and Tokyo said Sunday, in a sweeping step to modernize their alliance in the face of mounting security threats in Asia
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Japanese counterparts Minoru Kihara and Yoko Kamikawa announced the plan in a joint statement following a meeting in Tokyo, where they also called China’s “political, economic, and military coercion” the “greatest strategic challenge” in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Under the new plan, US forces in Japan would be “reconstituted” as a joint force headquarters reporting to the Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command to “facilitate deeper interoperability and cooperation on joint bilateral operations in peacetime and during contingencies,” according to the statement.