The US supports Japan’s effort to build military deterrence against China, a senior State Department official said ahead of security talks between top officials in Washington.
(Bloomberg) — The US supports Japan’s effort to build military deterrence against China, a senior State Department official said ahead of security talks between top officials in Washington.
Japan needs the ability to strike back, the US official told reporters Tuesday on customary condition of anonymity. Developing that capacity is expected to be a focus of the one-day security dialogue between the top US and Japanese foreign and defense officials.
The meeting of the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee on Wednesday is a precursor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington. Kishida will meet President Joe Biden on Friday, coming from Canada as he makes a whirlwind tour of most Group of 7 member nations as he prepares to host the G-7 summit in Hiroshima in May.
Japan’s government is in the middle of a massive defense spending boost as it addresses what it calls the “unprecedented strategic challenge” posed by China. While pressure for more defense spending had been mounting for some time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hastened reappraisals of whether Japan could defend itself from current and future threats.
“The United States and Japan will discuss our shared vision of a modernized Alliance that will tackle 21st century challenges in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” the State Department said Tuesday of the upcoming meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts.
The US is also pushing Japan to ease tensions with South Korea that spiked in recent years. The US official said the two sides have done a lot of positive diplomacy and there’s a growing recognition that the two nations will be more secure if they have a better relationship.
Last week, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper said Kishida planned to sign a joint statement with the US to deepen their alliance and to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. There will also be a clear reference to cooperation on economic security, including sensitive technology, the paper said.
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