US to upgrade military command in Japan amid China's 'assertiveness', North Korea's 'nuclear threat'

ANKARA

The US will reconstitute its forces in Japan for "better" coordination of their bilateral alliance and to pursue the expansion of co-production of air defense missiles, local media reported on Sunday.

It was decided at "two-plus-two" security talks in Tokyo between the foreign and defense chiefs of the two allies amid China's "assertiveness" in the region and the North Korean "nuclear threat," Kyodo News reported.

The meeting, joined by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and their US counterparts Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, was followed by first-ever ministerial talks on so-called extended deterrence that includes US nuclear protection provided to Japan.

In a statement issued after their talks, the foreign and defense ministers contended that China "seeks to reshape the international order for its own benefit at the expense of others" and expressed "serious concern" over its behavior.

The United States "intends to reconstitute US Forces Japan (USFJ) as a joint force headquarters," according to the statement.

The reconstituted USFJ is intended to serve as an important counterpart of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' joint operation headquarters that will be launched by March 2025 to unify the command of its ground, maritime and air services, it said.

China's behavior 'greatest strategic' challenge

Following Japan's recent move to ease its weapons transfer rules, Tokyo and Washington will explore opportunities to bolster production of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 ground-based interceptor missiles and medium-range air-to-air missiles known as AMRAAM, both developed in the US, according to the statement.

Highlighting how China employs "political, economic, and military coercion of countries and facilitates its military modernization through the diversion of technology to achieve the objectives," they said that such behavior "represents the greatest strategic challenge in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond."

Taiwan's political transition "should not be used as a pretext for provocative actions," the statement went on to say in a veiled reference to a large-scale Chinese military drill surrounding the self-ruled democratic island that took place after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's inauguration in May.