By: Vivian Tang

The US and Japan announced that their nations would take steps to strengthen their military power due to China’s increasing threat toward them.

Lloyd J. Austin III, the U.S. defense secretary, said in a news conference on July 28, “The U.S. will have a direct leadership role in planning and leading U.S. forces in both peacetime and in potential crises, and that will give us an opportunity to work more closely together to ensure greater peace and stability.”

Their action was mostly in response to China’s aggressive moves and also a little bit because of hostile activity in North Korea and Russia.

The US and Japan Governments said that recent moves of regional actors caused an “increasingly severe security environment ”.

The U.S. Secretary of State, Lloyd J. Austin III, and Antony J. Blinken went to Tokyo on Sunday, July 28, to meet with their Japanese counterparts, which is commonly known as a 2+2 dialogue.

These meetings take place regularly, but this one was different. It added significance due to Biden’s announcement last Sunday stating that he would drop out of the 2024 presidential race. That means America will have a new leader, most likely Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, which means foreign leaders may have concerns about how a new leader will handle and approach foreign policies and alliances.

Mr. Blinken and Secretary Austin plan to go to the Philippines next to hold another 2+2 dialogue.

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