Japan, U.S. Strengthen Ties To Maintain Status Quo In Indo-Pacific

The defense chiefs of Japan and the United States on Wednesday agreed to align the two countries' security strategies and strengthen cooperation to deter any attempt to change the status quo by force in the Indo-Pacific amid China's growing assertiveness, Kyodo News reported.

Photo Insert: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III stands with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi prior to a bilateral meeting at the Pentagon.

The meeting in the Pentagon took place as Japan plans to update its National Security Strategy by the end of this year, with Russia's war against Ukraine generating a fresh drive in Tokyo toward beefing up its defense and deterrence capabilities.

At the outset of the talks, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Russia's attack on its neighbor is "a serious challenge to the international order" and that "such unilateral change to the status quo by force is a concern in the Indo-Pacific region as well."

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russia's aggression has implications "far beyond Europe" because of the challenge it represents to the rules-based order.

China's behavior, meanwhile, threatens to undermine the "common norms, values and institutions that underpin that order," he said, in a possible warning over its assertive territorial claims in neighboring waters and pressuring of Taiwan.

Austin also reaffirmed US commitment to the defense of Japan, including extended deterrence backed by the "full range" of US nuclear and conventional defense capabilities, apparently with China's military buildup and Russia's nuclear saber-rattling following its invasion of Ukraine in mind.

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