By: Shawn  Wang

The United States and Japan announced that they are going to take steps to strengthen their military alliance. Those steps include establishing a joint force headquarters that would answer to the American commander in the Indo-Pacific and an increasing co-production of different types of missiles. “The U.S. will have a direct leadership role in planning and leading U.S. forces in both peacetime and in potential crises,” said Lloyd J. Austin III, the U.S. defense secretary at a news conference lon Sunday. “And that will give us an opportunity to work more closely together to ensure greater peace and stability.” The statement focuses on China’s activities in the East China Sea, South China Sea and beyond, while also mentioning aggressive activity by North Korea and Russia.

Mr. Austin and Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, were in Tokyo on Sunday to have a meeting with their Japanese counterparts in what is usually called a 2+2 dialogue. These meetings happen often but the last one was important because Joe Biden stepped out of the election so America would have a new leader, most likely Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. Foreign leaders don’t know how the new leaders might act towards the policies and alliances.

The officials know little about Harris but they assume she would continue with Biden’s policies. However, the officials are concerned about the power returning to Trump, who has always criticized the military alliance as being costly.

Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/28/world/asia/us-japan-military-alliance.html