U.S. and Japanese leaders say they will bolster their tools to combat threats from China and North Korea, including Beijing’s aggressive posture toward Taiwan, as the Biden administration tries to establish a presence in the region.
“We agreed on the recognition that China’s behavior, where inconsistent with the existing international order, presents various challenges to the alliance and the international community,” Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters following a meeting with President Biden’s national security team. “Further, we confirmed the importance of peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to Tokyo for a week of diplomatic initiatives designed, in part, to enhance Washington’s standing among China’s neighbors after four years of the Trump administration’s “America first” approach. On the cusp of an in-person encounter between Blinken and Chinese officials in Alaska, Motegi’s reference to Taiwan will be heard as a welcome signal in Taipei, where officials have long appealed to Tokyo for solidarity against the mainland communist regime.
“In light of this very difficult security environment, we agreed to further reinforce our collaboration for deterrence and response capability of the alliance,” Motegi said.
‘AS SCARY AS POSSIBLE’: TAIWAN WANTS TO WORK WITH QUAD TO CONTAIN CHINA’S MILITARY
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen hopes that Japan, along with Australia and India, who round out a bloc of U.S. partners and allies known as the Quad, will help deter a prospective invasion of Taiwan from mainland China. Japan might exert great influence over such a controversy as a U.S. ally with the economic resources to support a major military.
Any military potential has been curtailed by policies set following the imperial Japanese defeat in the Second World War, but Japan has bipartisan U.S. support to purchase 105 F-35 stealth fighter jets. Those restrictions are meant to prevent Japan from becoming too powerful militarily.
“Our goal is to make sure that we maintain a competitive edge over China or anyone else that would want to threaten us or our alliance and that we develop the operational plans and capabilities to be able to deter any aggressor, China or anyone else, that would want to take us or the alliance on,” Austin told reporters at a press conference alongside Motegi and Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi.
Chinese Communist officials have regarded Taiwan as a renegade province since the 1949 revolution, when communist forces won a civil war and the defeated nationalist side retreated across the strait to take refuge in Taipei. Beijing also claims sovereignty over a group of islands northeast of Taiwan that Japan has controlled since the 19th century. Following the recent passage of a law authorizing the Chinese Coast Guard to use lethal force in their territorial waters, Chinese vessels have operated in the disputed waters.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“We will push back if necessary when China uses coercion or aggression to get its way,” Blinken said. “Japan and the United States, together with our allies and partners, will be strong advocates for our shared approach, grounded in our values and our joint commitment to the security and well-being of all our people.”
Motegi emphasized that Blinken and Austin affirmed that “the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands,” implying that U.S. forces intend to come to the defense of the territories if China tries to seize them by force. “Further, at the timing when various policy reviews are underway in the United States, we were able to meticulously coordinate the strategies and policies of both nations,” Motegi said. “We confirmed that partnership will continue to bolster extended deterrence and confirmed the deepening of cross-domain cooperation including space and cyber.”
