October 5, 2023—Defense ministers from the United States and Japan strengthened their two countries’ security alliance on Wednesday amid heightened tensions in Asia. Japan is expediting a planned purchase of Tomahawk cruise missiles, moving the date up one year. The United States, meanwhile, reaffirmed its promise to defend Japan’s mainland and territories in what U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called an “ironclad commitment.”
U.S.-Japan Alliance
“This is a time of historic momentum in the U.S.-Japan alliance,” Austin said on Wednesday. “We support your government’s bold decisions to invest in advanced capabilities including counterstrike, and to increase defense spending to 2 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product by 2027.”
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Japan is responding to the “need to strengthen the alliance’s capabilities to deter and respond” to attempts to change the status quo by force, the Japan Times reported.
Arms Deals, Alliances
The U.S.-Japan meeting comes at a time of increasing tensions between China and the Phillippines in the South China Sea, ballistic missile launches by North Korea, and arms deals between North Korea and Russia.
China, meanwhile, sells weapons to six countries in Southeast Asia, according to the Rand Corporation. They are Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Regional Cooperation With China
On the other side of the coin are diplomatic talks to maintain the status quo. A trilateral diplomatic meeting with Japan, South Korea, and China recently affirmed the three countries’ common interest in cooperating. According to reporting in Reuters and The Guardian, Japan’s foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, said the three countries share a desire to hold a summit “as soon as possible.”
