US, Japan come closer amid worries over assertive China

In the face of their shared concerns about increasingly assertive China; Japan and the United States on Wednesday (January 11) announced stepped-up security co-operation. Washington strongly endorsed a major military build-up announced by Japan last month. Foreign and defence ministers of the two countries met in Washington.

A joint statement issued after the meetings said that both countries "provided a vision of a modernized Alliance postured to prevail in a new era of strategic competition."

"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 told a joint news conference after the meeting, referring to the People's Republic of China.

At the briefing, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced plans to introduce a Marine Littoral Regiment in Japan, which would bring significant capabilities, including anti-ship missiles. Blinken said that two sides also agreed to extend the terms of their common defense treaty to cover space.

The joint statement said that given "a severely contested environment," the forward posture of U.S. forces in Japan should be upgraded "by positioning more versatile, resilient, and mobile forces with increased intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, anti-ship, and transportation capabilities."

Austin is to meet Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada again on Thursday at the Pentagon ahead of a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday.

(With inputs from agencies)

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