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Japan and U.S. Agree to Broaden Military Alliance Japan and U.S. Agree to Broaden Military Alliance
(about 1 hour later)
TOKYO — Against the backdrop of pressing regional tensions, the United States and Japan agreed Thursday to broaden their military alliance, including by adding a new missile defense radar system in Japan and cooperating to combat cyberthreats. TOKYO — The United States and Japan agreed on Thursday to broaden their security alliance to allow an expanding role for Japan while also reaffirming a continued American military presence in the region in a deal that underscores the two countries’ efforts to respond to growing challenges by China and North Korea in an era of intensified budget-cutting pressures.
The agreement, signed during a joint visit here by Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a meeting with their Japanese counterparts, signals the United States’ increased military, economic and diplomatic focus on Asia, and it is likely to alarm China, which has had increasingly testy relations with Tokyo. The agreement, signed during a joint visit here by Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a meeting with their Japanese counterparts, called for several concrete steps to strengthen cooperation, including the building of a new missile defense radar in Japan, the deployment of American drones here for the first time and joint efforts to combat rising cyberthreats.
The deal comes at a time when the Japanese government is seeking to greatly enhance its own military capabilities and to revise its pacifist Constitution, drafted after World War II, paving the way for it to become a more equal partner with the United States in times of conflict. The deal is also part of a broader effort by both sides to revamp a security alliance that dates back to the cold war. The United States hopes to signal its determination to continue with its increased military, economic and diplomatic focus on Asia despite the possibility of deep cuts in military spending. For Japan, the agreement appeared to give American approval to its still modest efforts to expand its military capabilities, and raise its profile in the Asia-Pacific, as Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, seeks to put his country on a more equal footing with its longtime military protector.
“Our bilateral defense cooperation, including America’s commitment to the security of Japan, is a critical component of our overall relationship,” Mr. Hagel said during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon, “and to the Obama administration’s rebalance to Asia-Pacific.”“Our bilateral defense cooperation, including America’s commitment to the security of Japan, is a critical component of our overall relationship,” Mr. Hagel said during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon, “and to the Obama administration’s rebalance to Asia-Pacific.”
Most significantly, the United States will deploy a new X-band radar system in Kyogamisaki over the next year to better protect both nations against military threats from North Korea. A key issue during the talks was how to respond to China, which has been sending Coast Guard ships to contest Japan’s control of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. The agreement Thursday said the United States and Japan should be ready to deal with “coercive and destabilizing behaviors,” while calling on China to adhere to international norms. While the United States has refused to take sides in the dispute, Mr. Hagel repeated American assurances that the islands are covered by the two countries’ security treaty, which obligates the United States to help Japan defend itself if attacked.
For the first time, the two countries will work on specific cyberdefense projects to increase cybersecurity in both countries. Further, the United States Marine Corps will replace aging helicopters here with two squadrons of MV-22 aircraft, and will deploy surveillance drones to be based in Japan for the first time. And the P-8, a cutting-edge highly advanced manned reconnaissance airplane, will be deployed for the first time to Japan to help the United States and its allies monitor maritime activities in the Pacific, where Japan and China both claim the same disputed islands. Another significant step was the decision to allow the United States to place a new X-band radar system in Kyogamisaki, near the city of Kyoto, to better protect both countries against military threats from North Korea. The powerful new radar will also help the cash-strapped Pentagon by freeing up American Aegis radar ships currently patrolling near North Korea for use elsewhere in the world.
The Japanese also agreed to offer better military support in global humanitarian relief efforts. “We’d like to share views on the security environment surrounding Japan, including the issue of North Korea,” Japan’s defense minister, Itsunori Onodera, told Mr. Hagel as the meeting began.
Thursday was the first time that American secretaries of state and defense met their Japanese counterparts in Japan since these so-called two-plus-two talks began in 1990, in a move that Japanese and American officials said was meant to demonstrate the United States’ renewed commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. This was also the first time that the talks included an agreement to work on specific projects to increase cybersecurity in both countries.
The United States also said it would deploy not only surveillance drones but also the P-8, a highly advanced manned reconnaissance airplane, to Japan to monitor the Western Pacific, where Tokyo is now locked with Beijing in the row over disputed islands. Addressing a long-festering issue, 9,000 Marines will be relocated from bases in Okinawa to locations outside Japan, with 5,000 of those forces deployed to Guam. The Japanese pay part of the bill for the transfer, saving the fiscally strained Defense Department from the expense.
For its part, Japan said it would bolster its security capabilities by creating a new American-style National Security Council, and also expanding assistance to Southeast Asian countries to help them resist Chinese territorial claims. It also pledged to increase military spending, despite Japan’s own need to pare down its huge national debt. Japan said it may also change its current interpretation of its pacifist Constitution, drafted by American occupiers after World War II, to allow its military to come to the aid of American forces under attack, something it cannot now legally do.
“Our relationship has never been stronger or better than it is today,” Mr. Kerry said. “We are continuing to adapt, however, to confront the different challenges of the 21st century.”“Our relationship has never been stronger or better than it is today,” Mr. Kerry said. “We are continuing to adapt, however, to confront the different challenges of the 21st century.”
Addressing a vexing local issue, 9,000 Marines will be relocated from the base in Okinawa outside Japan, with 5,000 of those forces deployed to Guam and the Japanese footing some of the bill for the transfer, saving the fiscally strained Defense Department from the expense. However, the efforts by Japan to enhance its military capabilities also present a conundrum to the United States. While American officials have welcomed Japan’s willingness to shoulder a larger share of the region’s security burden, those moves have been watched warily in South Korea, another key American defense partner. In particular, past denials by Japanese leaders, like the current prime minister, Mr. Abe, that Korean women were forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese military during the war have angered many Koreans, who still harbor bitter memories of Japan’s brutal early 20th-century colonization of their peninsula.
Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was elected at the end of last year, he has revived Japan’s efforts to enhance its military capabilities. Under its Constitution, Japan has been constrained since World War II from using military force for purposes beyond basic self-defense, something Mr. Abe is seeking to change. As a result, the United States has struggled to get its two closest Asian allies to conduct even low-level military cooperation. In a nod to those problems, the agreement Thursday called specifically for trilateral cooperation between the United States, South Korea and Japan to face common threats, like North Korea’s nuclear program.
These efforts have become complicated by Japan’s increasingly tense relations with nearby South Korea and China. In the latter case, the two nations have been in a frosty standoff over ownership of a set of islands known in Japan as the Senkaku and in China as the Diaoyu, a conflict with no resolution in sight. Further, Mr. Abe has shown support for claims made by Japanese conservatives that Korean women were not forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during the war, and other historically rooted conflicts, leaving relations between Tokyo and Seoul at their darkest in years. “Today we have seen a meeting of minds between Japan and the United States with respect to this situation,” said Fumio Kishida, the Japanese foreign minister. “We are decidedly opposed to the attempt to change the status quo through coercion.”
But both nations share a concern with Japan over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and its proliferation of chemical weapons, one of the preoccupying concerns of the region. Mr. Kerry also sought to allay Chinese fears about a closer United States-Japan alliance, saying that the United States desires a cooperative relationship with China on the issue of North Korea and other areas of common ground.
“Today we have seen a meeting of minds between Japan and the United States with respect to this situation,” said Fumio Kishida, the Japanese minister dealing with North Korea. “We are decidedly opposed to the attempt to change the status quo through coercion.” “We also seek to find the things we can cooperate on,” he said, but he added that the United States has been “very clear about our interests and those thing that we think represent lines that we think should not be crossed,” including on the matter of the islands dispute with Japan. While the United States is not weighing in on that matter, he said “we do recognize Japan’s administration of those islands.”
Mr. Kerry said that the United States seeks to have a cooperative relationship with China around the issue of North Korea and other areas of common ground. He added: “A rising China is welcome as long as that China wants to engage according to international standards.”
“We also seek to find the things we can cooperate on,” he said, but he added that the United States has been “very clear about our interests and those things that we think represent lines that we think should not be crossed,” including on the matter of the islands dispute with Japan. While the United States is not weighing in on that matter, he said “we do recognize Japan’s administration of those islands.”
He added, “A rising China is welcome as long as that China wants to engage according to international standards.”