U.S.-Japan Deepen Space, Military Ties As China’s Threat Grows
They also committed to more bilateral military training and a realignment of US forces in the region to be able to better respond to any threat by China.
(Bloomberg) -- The US and Japan announced plans to strengthen defense cooperation on land, at sea and in space as they expressed growing concern about the growing challenge posed by China and its ties with Russia.
Speaking after a day of security talks in Washington, officials said Wednesday that the two sides were set to sign an agreement that will strengthen cooperation in space, including the US agreeing to defend against an attack on Japan’s space assets in some cases.
They also committed to more bilateral military training and a realignment of US forces in the region to be able to better respond to any threat by China.
The meeting of the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee at the State Department was a precursor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington later this week, and underscored just how seriously the two nations take concerns about what they said is a more aggressive China. Japan calls Beijing an “unprecedented strategic challenge.”
“What we’re seeing recently is some very provocative behavior on the part of China’s forces and their attempt to establish a new normal” in its approach to Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at a briefing alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Japanese counterparts. Austin added, though, that he doubts a Chinese attack on Taiwan is imminent.
The US will reorganize its forces in Japan to better deter and respond to increasing regional threats, and the allies will conduct joint exercises in Japan’s southwestern islands, where tensions with China run high, the two sides said in a joint statement. While short on specifics, the statement touted “increased intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, anti-ship, and transportation capabilities” for US forces in the country.
Austin lent formal US backing for Japan’s desire for a counter-strike ability. Japan’s government is in the middle of a massive defense spending boost that would give it that option.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said US and Japanese officials shared concern over expanding military cooperation between Russia and China.
Joint Statement
In the joint statement, the two countries committed to collaborate on research in areas such as advanced materials and testing facilities for hypersonic weapons and to explore co-development of a future interceptor.
The allies also called for joint exercises with South Korea focused on ballistic missile defense, maritime security and antisubmarine warfare.
(Updates with joint statement provisions starting in eighth paragraph)
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