Monday, April 27, 2015

US & Japan unveil new defense policy amid China tensions

The US and Japan have revealed new defense guidelines, expected to be revealed Monday as PM Shinzo Abe is on a visit to Washington, which may cause considerable unease in China.

Under the revised guidelines, Japan would be able to come to the aid of US forces threatened by another country and would be able to deploy minesweepers to the Middle East, officials said. 

The revisions to Japan-US defense cooperation guidelines are the first since 1997, and reportedly reflects huge changes in Japanese security policy, according to Reuters. Currently the guidelines state that Japan will defend its own territory and “situations in areas surrounding Japan.”
 
This is widely interpreted as joining US forces in any possible conflict on the Korean Peninsula, where Japanese forces would give “rear area support” to the US.
"These guidelines eliminate the geographic restriction on US-Japan cooperation," a senior US defense reporter told reporters. 

As well as expanding its geographical presence, Japan’s military is also expected to diversify into areas such as cyber security and counter terrorism. 

The details of the new guidelines are expected to be revealed on Monday when the Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and the Defense Minister Nakatani meet US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Defense Secretary Ash Carter in New York. The meeting is the centerpiece of Abe’s visit. 

Japan will also likely be looking for assurances from Washington that it will still come to Japan’s aid if necessary. 

Meanwhile in Japan Abe’s critics say he wants to whitewash Japan’s wartime past while his conservative allies think it’s time after 70 years since the end of the war to take a greater role on the world stage and that fresh apologies are not needed. 

There is also considerable alarm in Japan over China’s military modernizing, as Beijing increasingly flexes its muscles in Asia. 

China is surrounded by US bases from Thailand to South Korea. Beijing is concerned at Abe’s more nationalist outlook and his defiant stance on history and territorial issues, which contradict his claim that he is a defender of peace. 

There is also concern in china that Washington is using Tokyo as a means of pursuing its decade’s old policy of containing China. 

Tim Beal, an Asia specialist told RT that the US will try and use Japan to counter Chinese dominance in the region.
“Japan is basically using China as an excuse and it’s using it because the only way the Americans will accept Japanese remilitarization is if they think Japan can be used against China,” he said.
He added that Japanese militarization will bring some benefit to the US’ huge military industrial complex.
“[It] will benefit to some extent from Japanese remilitarization because it can sell arms to Japan. On the other hand, the Japanese are very good at producing their own civilian and military equipment….who will be very tough competitors to the US.”

 http://rt.com/news/253473-us-japan-defense-policy/
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3 comments:

  1. Japan, U.S. to revise defense cooperation guidelines amid security challenges...

    Japan and the United States will finalize their revised defense cooperation guidelines at a meeting of their defense and foreign ministers for security talks which began Monday in New York, with the two allies likely to agree on how to deal with the changing regional security environment.

    The first updating of the guidelines in 18 years will be finalized during the "two-plus-two" meeting in New York involving Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and their U.S. counterparts -- Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

    The four are expected to discuss ways to strengthen their bilateral alliance through the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' greater cooperation with the U.S. military by getting rid of geographical constraints for SDF activities and ensuring their forces can deal with the changing security environment in a "seamless" manner from peacetime to contingencies.
    Kyodo
    27/4/15

    ReplyDelete
  2. Although Japan still remains one of America's closest allies in the Asia Pacific region, some of Tokyo's actions should worry Washington, Ted Galen Carpenter stressed...

    While China is strengthening its economic and military influence in East Asia, the US-Japan alliance faces a critical turning point, pointed out American author Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

    Although Japan still remains one of the US' closest allies in the Asia Pacific region, some of the Abe government's actions might worry Washington, the author underscored.

    Ted Galen Carpenter pointed to the fact that Tokyo has been recently demonstrating a "belligerent" stance regarding territorial disputes with South Korea and China over the Dokdo/Takeshima and the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands.

    Japan's efforts to justify its claims sparked a lot of controversy among the populations of the region: Beijing and Seoul have openly slammed Tokyo for an alleged attempt to "legitimize Japan's imperial era and its many abuses."

    Furthermore, Abe's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, the site where 14 of Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II are commemorated, have added fuel to the fire.........http://sptnkne.ws/ge4
    27/4/15

    ReplyDelete
  3. The United States and Japan unveiled new rules for defense cooperation Monday in a historic move that will give Japanese forces a wider global role amid concerns over China's rising sway...

    Under the revised guidelines, Japan could come to the aid of US forces threatened by a third country or, for example, deploy minesweeper ships to a mission in the Middle East.

    US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter revealed the new rules alongside Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani after talks at a New York hotel.

    Although officials said the new doctrine is not aimed at China, there has been increasing concern over moves by Beijing to try to scoop up disputed areas of the South China and East China Seas.

    But they pointedly made mention of North Korea as another source of tension in the region.

    Kerry stressed the United States saw the disputed Senkaku Islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyus, as firmly under Japan's control.

    Washington "commitment to Japan's security remains ironclad and covers all territories under Japan's administration, including the Senkaku Islands," Kerry said. ....AFP....timesofindia.indiatimes.com
    28/4/15

    ReplyDelete

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