TOKYO / WASHINGTON, Jan 7 – U.S. and Japanese defense ministers on Friday expressed concern over what they say are China’s ongoing efforts to undermine International order, as they look to work more closely with emerging security threats. .
Officials from the two unions met to discuss modernization and to strengthen their security alliance at a time when concerns about China – and growing tensions over Taiwan – had put Japan’s security role in the forefront.
The ministers “decided to work together to prevent and, if necessary, respond to disruptive activities in the region,” according to a joint statement following talks.
The ministers said they had “deep and ongoing concerns” about human rights issues in China’s Xinjiang and Hong Kong regions and stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the two countries would sign a new security cooperation agreement to combat emerging threats, including hypersonics and space-based forces.
Blinken said the US-Japan alliance “should not only strengthen the tools we have, but also develop new ones”, citing Russia’s military formation against Ukraine, Beijing’s “provocative” actions on Taiwan and the recent launch of North Korean missiles.
North Korea fired a “hypersonic Missile” this week that hit a target, “state media reported.
Russia, China and the United States are also rushing to develop hypersonic weapons whose speed and order make it difficult to detect and deter them with Missiles.
“We are introducing a new research and development agreement that will make it easier for our scientists, for our engineers and program managers to work together on emerging defense-related issues, from combating hypersonic threats to community-based skills development,” Blinken said at the opening. of the meeting.
United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the summit would help shape the future of the security forces, including the emergence of “specialized capabilities for Japan to contribute to regional peace and stability.”
As neighboring countries tested hypersonic Missiles, Japan was using electromagnetic “railgun” technology to identify those Missiles.
The government of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month approved a spending spree on defense, with 10 consecutive increases a year in 2022.
Top Japanese officials have said improving enemy strike skills is a viable option to strengthen defenses, but some experts say such movements could strike obstacles such as the theme of pacifism in domestic politics.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has told his US counterparts that the international community faces challenges including “strong efforts to change the status quo, the abuse of oppressive oppression and the rise of dictatorships”.
The two nations will also sign a new five-year agreement covering the continuation of US military operations in Japan, Blinken said, in an agreement in which Japan agreed to pay $ 9.3 billion to allocate US troops to Japan for five years.