Japan, US and Europe must act together on China, PM Kishida says
Japan, US and Europe must act together on China, PM Kishida says
Japan, the United States and Europe must act together on China, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in Washington, DC, during a visit aimed at strengthening Tokyo’s alliance with the United States in the face of mounting challenges from Beijing. the key challenge for both Japan and the US, as China’s vision for the international order is somewhat different from the views of Tokyo and Washington, which the allies “can never accept,” Kishida said. The US and Europe remain united in managing our respective ties with China,” Japan’s prime minister said in a speech Friday at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Russia’s war against Ukraine marked the “complete end” of the post-war world Cold War, order and if Moscow’s use of force “is not questioned, it will happen in other parts of the world, including Asia,” he said. “The international community is at an historic turning point.
The free, open and stable international order that we are committed to defending is now in serious jeopardy,” Kishida said. “We will never allow any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force, and we will increase our deterrence. Kishida reiterated Japan’s concerns about China’s military activities near the disputed islands in the East China Sea, known in Japanese as the Senkaku Islands and in Chinese as the Diaoyu Islands, as well as China’s launch last year of
ballistic missiles aimed in waters landed off Japan. In a previous meeting with Kishida at the White House, US President Joe Biden said the US remained firmly committed to its alliance with Japan and praised Tokyo’s “historic” defense buildup announced last month. thorough, fully committed to the Alliance and most importantly to the defense of Japan,” Biden said.
Last month Japan announced its largest military buildup since World War II, a dramatic departure from seven decades of pacifism fueled by concerns about Chinese actions in the region. The increase will see Japan boost its 2023 defense budget to a record 6.8 trillion yen ($55 billion), or a 20% increase in spending, amid regional security concerns, including threats from China and North Korea . As part of this new defense policy, Japan is going on a shopping spree, attempting to purchase hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles currently only in US and UK arsenals. Japan will also, for the first time, develop a “counter-strike” capability, meaning it will be able to hit missile launch sites that threaten it.
During talks this week between Japan’s foreign and defense ministers and their US counterparts, the two countries also agreed that attacks in space could invoke their mutual defense treaty amid rapid Chinese work on satellites. The state of Antony Blinken also signed an agreement to collaborate on space exploration on Friday.
