Japan, US defence chiefs to hold talks in Guam, with eye on China and North Korea

Mark Esper and Taro Kono will meet in Guam on August 29, amid China’s increasing maritime assertiveness in the East and South China seas

The two are also likely to discuss Japan’s deterrence against North Korean missile threats

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US Defence Secretary Mike Esper. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 12:12pm, 20 Aug 2020Updated: 5:52pm, 21 Aug 2020

Japan’s Defence Minister Taro Kono is arranging talks with his US counterpart Mark Esper on August 29 when he visits the US territory of Guam, ministry sources said, with China and North Korea expected to be high on their agenda.

It would be the Japanese minister’s first overseas trip since he refrained from travelling due to the coronavirus pandemic, having last attended an international conference in Germany in February.

Esper is next week travelling to Palau, Hawaii and Guam, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

Kono plans to travel to Guam on a Self-Defence Forces aircraft and hold talks with Esper at a US base there, according to the sources.

The two are expected to discuss how to respond to China’s increasing maritime assertiveness in the East and South China seas, where Beijing has been stepping up territorial claims, the sources said.

They are also likely to discuss Japan’s deterrence against North Korea’s missile threats, following Tokyo’s decision in June to scrap plans to deploy the US-developed Aegis Ashore missile defence system.

Kono and Esper held a videoconference in early July with Linda Reynolds, their counterpart in Australia, where they reaffirmed their “strong opposition” to the use of force or coercion that could alter the status quo and increase tensions in the East and South China seas, apparently with China in mind.