By: Kyle Xu
On Sunday, representatives from the United States met with their Japanese counterparts to strengthen their military alliance in order to defend against the threat of the ever-growing Chinese military and technology.
Both Mr. Austin and Antony J. Blinkin (U.S. secretary of state) flew to Tokyo on Sunday to meet with Japanese officials in a 2+2 dialogue. This meeting was of crucial importance because of the re-election coming up between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican former president Donald Trump.
Japan was poorly informed about Kamala Harris, although they hope that a familiar Democrat will continue Biden’s efforts to strengthen military ties. However, they raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s campaign, because he has often voiced that the U.S. military is costly and useless.
Japan is concerned with the growing threat of a war against North Korea and China. The U.S. has allies in Japan and South Korea, and officials from the two allied countries know how important the U.S. troops there are, because they seemingly prevent a Chinese assault. Many threats have arisen from China, so Japanese and Korean officials are teetering on the brink of war.
One such threat is Japan’s quarrel with China over ownership of the East China Sea, which they both claim part of. Officials stated that China’s “intensifying attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion” are worrisome. The two governments emphasized the mutual-defense section in their treaty due to this reason.
At the 2+2, the Japanese officials, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara signed contracts on buying weapons and missiles in the U.S. Japan hopes to streamline efforts in producing Patriot defense missiles to help minimize casualties of the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. delegates will be flying to the Philippines next, due to recent quarrels with China’s coast guard.
“The U.S. will have a direct leadership role in planning and leading U.S. forces in both peacetime and in potential crises,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.