Japanese forces will be allowed to defend other countries, instead of just itself, for the first time since the end of World War II, dramatically changing the country’s role in potential conflicts in the Pacific.
The United States and Japan agreed to a new defense relationship that will allow Japan to use its weapons systems and resources globally to defend the U.S., its allies and Japan global security interests, which is “a very important event” in the history of U.S.-Japan relations, a senior U.S. defense official said.
The agreement seals a “strategic vision for a more robust alliance and greater shared responsibilities … enhancing its deterrence and response capabilities in all phases, from peacetime to contingencies,” the two nations said in a joint statement.
The agreement, with a related announcement of the realignment of U.S. forces, provides more defense options for both countries and is a central part of the U.S. “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific. Both agreements will be announced in New York Monday during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s trip to the U.S.
The new guidelines fundamentally alter the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, which are currently limited to operating and using force only if Japan is attacked.
U.S. forces stationed at Okinawa will be relocated to the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on the larger Japanese island of Honshu and to Guam.
The major components of the new guidelines include, according to the senior defense official:
• Japan will be able to use its ships, missile defense systems and drones to not only defend U.S. ships and bases in Japan’s surrounding waters, but also outside of Japan’s domain, to come to the defense of other countries if it is in Japan’s security interests. The protective umbrella for U.S. vessels in Japan will be significantly expanded since Japan’s six Aegis missile-equipped destroyers are the most capable of the U.S. allies’ missile-defense systems.
Likewise, the U.S. will bring in additional assets to Japan to improve its defenses against China’s gaining military capabilities in undersea propulsion, surveillance and rocket launches. The U.S. will bring in an additional Navy sub-hunter aircraft the P-8 Poseidon, a Global Hawk and the amphibious transport ship USS Green Bay, deploy the Marine Corps’ F-35B and additional Aegis ships, and swap out aircraft carrier USS George Washington “with the more advanced USS Ronald Reagan later this year,” the U.S. and Japan said in the joint statement.
• Japan will participate in increased regional and global cooperation with the U.S. in peacekeeping, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and importantly, in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sharing and cooperation on global missile defense. Japan “plans to procure advanced ISR platforms” and several new coastal vessels.
• The agreement increases Japan’s cooperation with the U.S. in cybertechnology and in space. In space, the U.S. gains Japan’s assistance in better protecting U.S. satellites from intrusion by hacking and enhance satellite defenses against collision. In the cyber domain, Japan and the U.S. have committed to increased information sharing on potential threats or vulnerabilities.
• Japan and the U.S. will coordinate their joint responses to threats through a new “alliance coordination mechanism” — a communications process between the cabinet-level defense and foreign relations leadership of both countries to determine Japan’s involvement in any potential threats. For example, if Taiwan were attacked, Japan and the U.S. would use the new process to determine whether Japan would help defend Taiwan.
In a joint statement, the U.S. and Japan also reaffirmed official recognition that the U.S. will defend Japan’s rights to the Senkaku Islands, a string of small territories just north of Taiwan that Japan and China both claim as their own.
Importantly for the Japanese, the U.S. affirmed in the agreement that “the Senkaku Islands are territories under the administration of Japan and therefore fall within the scope of the commitments under Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, and that they oppose any unilateral action that seeks to undermine Japan’s administration of these islands.”
Michael Auslin, a resident scholar on Asian-Pacific affairs at the American Enterprise Institute, said it will be up to the Japanese legislature to not only pass the guidelines, but also to pass the specifics that would put the new guidelines into action. For example, for Japan to deploy its six Aegis-equipped destroyers and fire missiles to defend the U.S., the legislature would have had to pass legislation allowing that action.
A Pentagon official following the issue closely said that Abe’s official visit to the U.S. and the public announcement Monday is an indication that he already has the political support he needs to get the agreement through the Japanese legislature.
