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Amid this tense situation, what is the United States doing in Japan?
On Sunday, the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States announced a number of measures to address what they called a “changing security environment,” noting a variety of threats from China, including its assertive maritime activities.
The two allies described China as the “greatest strategic challenge” facing the Indo-Pacific region and called Beijing’s behavior in the South China Sea and the East China Sea “provocative.”
The United States said it will reorganize its military command in Japan from an administrative command to a joint operations command.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called the upgrade the “most significant change” to U.S. forces in Japan since its establishment. The headquarters will correspond to the Japan Self-Defense Forces Joint Operations Command, which will take effect in March 2025.
Austin said the upgrade in command was “not based on any threat from China” but rather reflected the allies’ desire to work more closely and more effectively.
Kei Koga, associate professor of the Public Policy and Global Affairs Program at the School of Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, told the Central News Agency’s East Asia Tonight program: “The coordinated strategy that Japan and the United States are trying to strengthen is indeed significant.”
“The coordination of military planning and policy planning — that can actually (enhance) the effectiveness of joint cooperation among Japan’s agencies.”
Koga noted that the two countries have “very similar” views on China and have a long history of cooperation in defense, politics and diplomacy.
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