Japan and the United States held security talks between their foreign and defense ministers in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 11 to discuss ways to upgrade the bilateral security alliance.

It was the first such meeting since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced plans to radically reconfigure Japan’s postwar security policy posture and beef up the nation’s defense capabilities.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada met with their U.S. counterparts, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, under the framework of the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee, commonly known as the “2+2” security talks.

They stressed the two nations’ commitment to joint efforts to counter China’s rapid military buildup but did not offer any viable plan to ease tensions through dialogue.

Military conflict must be avoided at all costs. It is vital to map out an effective strategy for co-existence.

In a joint statement, the United States “expressed its strong support” for Japan’s new security policies and underscored decisions by Tokyo and Washington to “deepen bilateral cooperation toward the effective employment of Japan’s counterstrike capabilities in close coordination with the United States.”

The statement also asserted that an attack on a Japanese satellite could lead to invocation of Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which obliges the United States to defend Japan. The Japanese and U.S. officials confirmed that the two nations will expand and strengthen cooperation in a broad range of security areas, including space, cyber and technological research and development.

The bilateral security treaty is underpinned by the principle that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces should serve in the role of a “shield” to defend the nation while relying on the U.S. military to act as the “spear” to strike enemy targets. It remains unclear how the division of roles will change if the SDF performs some of the “spear” functions.

Given that the United States has overwhelmingly superior military and intelligence capabilities, the big question is whether Japan can build an effective system to ensure it will make its own decisions during security emergencies.

Another centerpiece is expansion of combined capabilities to defend Japan’s Nansei chain of islands, including Okinawa, in response to heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait. As part of this strategic reinforcement, the United States will reorganize the 12th Marine Regiment in Okinawa Prefecture into “the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment” for swift responses to security threats to remote islands.

The two sides also decided to expand joint and shared use of U.S. and Japanese facilities, including “additional facilities on the Kadena Ammunition Storage Area” in Okinawa, and to hold more bilateral exercises and training drills.

The statement stressed the importance of a “peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”

In discussing his upcoming visit to China in a news conference after the meeting, Blinken expressed his desire to “establish guardrails to prevent competition … from veering into conflict.”

Japan and China are not in close contact. Kishida met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, but Hayashi has yet to make a planned visit.

Any armed conflict involving China would have a direct impact on Japan, especially the Nansei chain of islands. This makes it all the more important for Tokyo, rather than for Washington, to make serious and independent efforts for dialogue with the neighboring giant.

The shift of focus in the bilateral security alliance toward the Nansei islands raises concern that the burden on Okinawa, which is host to the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, will increase further.

The joint statement also referred to “the importance of relationships with local communities.”

If they are truly committed to this view, the two governments should change their shared position that building a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma off the Henoko district in the city of Nago in Okinawa is the only solution to problems concerning the base now located in Ginowan, a crowded city in the southernmost prefecture.

Despite the growing integration of Japanese and U.S. military capabilities and operations, nothing is being done to review and revise the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement, which gives U.S. forces stationed in Japan a wide range of privileges. This will make it difficult to win broad public support for the strategic enhancement of the security alliance.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 13