The U.S. and Japan are reportedly poised to address security challenges posed by China when they unveil an alliance shake-up transforming the 1960 mutual defense treaty.
"President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will announce plans to restructure the US military command in Japan to strengthen operational planning and exercises between the nations," said the Financial Times on Monday.
The plan will likely be announced on April 10 when President Joe Biden is due to host Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. Their meeting is expected to address the escalation of regional geopolitical tensions, including China's military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and close to Japan.
The strategic move by the U.S. and Japan will aim to fortify operational planning and joint military exercises, underscoring a unified stance against the perceived escalation of threats from China. Several proposals are being considered to adjust the existing U.S.-Japan treaty to improve the coordination between the two forces.
Newsweek contacted President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's office for comment, as well as the U.S. State Department and Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Japan has recently tweaked its calculus of the security threat posed by Beijing, increasing defense spending by 16.5 percent from 2023 to 2024 to the tune of $55.9 billion, according to The Diplomat.
One critical aspect of the proposed upgrade involves addressing the current limitations faced by the U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ). The command structure has seen minimal changes since its inception and has been identified as a bottleneck in achieving coordination between the U.S. and Japanese militaries.
This has necessitated more direct dealings with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, a logistical and temporal challenge, as Tokyo is 19 hours behind and 6,200km away.
Another proposed change to the current alliance arrangement under consideration is the establishment of a US military joint task force under the U.S. Pacific Fleet, aimed at bolstering the military's presence and operational capabilities in Japan.
This model, as per discussions, reportedly envisages an increased presence of the fleet's four-star commander in Japan, supported by an enhanced infrastructure.
"Some U.S. officials, however, want any new U.S. commander there to be responsible only for joint exercises, training and information sharing with the new [Japanese Self Defense Forces] headquarters, said one of the sources, both of whom asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media," Reuters reported on Monday.
However, some U.S. senators oppose having a four-star commander in Japan.
"Maybe in the future, but right now I think we have the command structure in place to carry out an effective response," Jack Reed, the Democratic lead on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the Financial Times.
Newsweek contacted Senator Jack Reed's office for comment.
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About the writer
Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
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