By: Henry Chen

The US and Japan’s heads of defense and military met on July 28, 2024, in Tokyo to increase the effectiveness of military-based production as other global giants, such as China and Russia, are slowly rising to power.

In the meeting, called a 2+2, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamiwaka, and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara decided to augment the amount of co-produced defense missiles and air-to-air missiles. The opposing major powers in the world, China and Russia, are threatening the US and Japan in ways that make these countries uncomfortable, so an increase in defense artillery is required. These leaders also reached the decision that they would ally further in order to deter countries that may plan to or will attack the US or Japan. This resolution will greatly help Japan as China, who wants to claim the whole East China Sea, will have to think twice about using force.

In addition to this conference, “Japan [also] signed an agreement with the United States to buy 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a cost of $1.7 billion.” diplomatic correspondent Edward Wong reported. This sudden purchase of a mass amount of weaponry is due to the possible return of Donald J. Trump, who will most likely cut off some of the military ties with Japan and South Korea, to the White House, which could possibly put both countries in danger. After this meeting in Japan, the US secretaries will hold another 2+2 in the Philippines after Chinese ships and the Philippine naval forces clashed with each other.

The US strengthened ties with Japan, selling missiles and pledging to create more missiles together, but possible connections will be pared if former President Donald Trump comes back on stage. Following this meeting, there will possibly be much more collaboration as some US Allies are in possible danger from Russia, China, and North Korea.