Pentagon to set up military command in Japan
American forces in Japan to be overseen from a headquarters there as Washington tries to strengthen allies in Asia.
The US will establish a new military command in Japan to bolster security ties here as Washington moves to strengthen its Asia allies in the face of China’s military build-up.
The new American command, to be led by a three-star general, will co-ordinate military operations with the Japanese, plan joint exercises and participate in the defence of the country if hostilities erupt.
In so doing, it will put America’s warfighting capabilities under the command of a headquarters on Japanese territory for the first time and dispense with the need for US forces in the country to wait for instructions from the US Indo-Pacific Command, located 5600km away in Hawaii.
The move is intended to keep pace with Japan’s efforts to build up its military capabilities, including a new joint military command Japanese authorities are planning to stand up early next year. The push to establish the command is also part of a broader effort to buttress military relations between the two allies and will include Japanese efforts to shore up the West’s industrial base, which is expected to include providing Patriot anti-missile systems to the US that are produced in Japan.
While much of Washington’s attention in recent months has been focused on trying to end the conflict in Gaza and efforts to help Ukraine defend against Russian aggression, China remains the principal long-term threat to the US and its allies in the Pacific region, according to the Pentagon’s defence strategy.
The US and Japan also have to contend with increased military co-operation between Russia and China, which recently sent a joint bomber patrol toward Alaska for the first time. North Korea’s growing nuclear and conventional arsenal is another danger.
The new initiatives were to be announced during a meeting in Tokyo on Sunday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence Minister Minoru Kihara.
They are part of a comprehensive effort by the US to strengthen the military capabilities of its Asia allies. On Tuesday, Mr Blinken and Mr Austin plan to announce $US500m ($764m) in financing during a meeting with their counterparts in The Philippines, among other steps.
The US is already involved in an ambitious effort to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The US has also removed the restrictions on the range of ballistic missiles South Korea can develop with American technology. And Japan has opted to buy hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US that can attack targets on land.
“What this means is the US is prepared to take steps to support allied capabilities in ways that we haven’t before,” said Christopher Johnstone, a former senior US official on Asia policy who is now at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The push to restructure command and control relations between Japan and the US was foreshadowed during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington in April.
Still, the effort to launch the new US Joint Force Command, as it is dubbed by US officials, remains a work in progress. To establish it, the US military plans to overhaul an existing administrative headquarters at a base near Tokyo named US Forces Japan to enable it to command the approximately 50,000 US troops in the country.
Japan’s new command is expected to be located in the basement of its defence Ministry.
The Wall Street Journal
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