US, Japan agree to step up security cooperation
New troop deployments could be first of several announcements
The United States and Japan on Wednesday announced stepped-up security cooperation in the face of shared worries about China, and Washington strongly endorsed a major military build-up Tokyo announced last month.
“We agree that the PRC is the greatest shared strategic challenge that we and our allies and partners face,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after he and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met their Japanese counterparts in Washington, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
At the same news conference, Austin announced plans to introduce a Marine Littoral Regiment in Japan, which would bring significant capabilities, including anti-ship missiles.
Blinken also said that two sides had agreed to extend the terms of their common defence treaty to cover space.
Austin was to meet Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada again yesterday at the Pentagon; later there will be a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida today.
Although the total number of US troops in Japan will not change, the new deployments could be the first of several announcements this year on military forces in Asia aimed at making Beijing think twice before initiating any conflict.
The agreement follows nearly a year of talks and comes after Japan last month announced its biggest military build-up since World War Two — a dramatic departure from seven decades of pacifism, fuelled by concerns about Chinese actions in the region.
That five-year plan will double the country’s defence spending to 2 per cent of its gross domestic product and see Japan procure missiles that can strike ships or land-based targets 1,000km away.