Foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States have agreed to work on improving the command and control of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the US military for better coordination.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Defense Minister Kihara Minoru held talks with their US counterparts Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for about an hour in Tokyo on Sunday.
At the opening of the “two-plus-two” talks, Kamikawa said the two countries need to continuously bolster their alliance and enhance deterrence to defend the international order.
Kihara underscored the need for Japan to strengthen coordination with the US and other partners with the aim of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The four officials exchanged views on the regional situation and concurred that China’s diplomatic policy is aimed at altering the international order to its own benefit at the expense of others. They agreed that Beijing’s stance poses a serious concern for the Japan-US alliance and the entire international community and represents the largest strategic challenge for the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
The ministers expressed staunch opposition to China’s increasing efforts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea, including moves around Japan’s Senkaku Islands. They also voiced strong concerns about Beijing’s escalating actions in waters near Japan’s Nansei Islands.
The US side reaffirmed that Article Five of the Japan-US Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands. The article obliges the US to defend territories under Japan’s administrative control.
Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan’s territory. China and Taiwan claim them.
The foreign and defense chiefs strongly condemned North Korea for its continuous launches of ballistic missiles and its increasing cooperation with Russia, which is procuring ballistic missiles and other supplies from the North.
The officials agreed that the US will reconstitute its forces in Japan as a joint force headquarters reporting to the Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command for better coordination between Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the US military. The new entity is expected to serve as a key counterpart to Japan’s envisioned joint operations headquarters.
The ministers decided that a working group involving both countries will be set up to consider the details of the revisions.
The Japanese and US sides also agreed that they will pursue opportunities for the joint production of defense equipment with an eye on expanding production capabilities of land-based PAC-3 interceptor missiles and other devices.
The ministers stressed the importance of improving information-sharing about accidents and incidents involving US personnel, in view of the cases of sexual violence by US service members stationed in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture. They expressed appreciation for the preventive measures to be implemented by the US forces in Japan.