US, Japan defence chiefs to meet next week to discuss Ukraine war, China
- The Pentagon said the defence chiefs will discuss ways to strengthen the bilateral alliance amid China’s growing assertiveness
- US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishin will also likely discuss North Korea’s missile and nuclear ambitions
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi on Wednesday in the United States to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine and ways to strengthen the bilateral alliance amid China’s growing assertiveness, according to the Pentagon.
The meeting will take place during Kishi’s trip to the United States from Tuesday to May 6, with North Korea’s missile and nuclear ambitions also to be broached, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told a press conference on Friday.
Asked whether the defence chiefs will talk about concrete steps to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Kirby only said “tensions with China will absolutely be on the agenda.”
In a virtual meeting held in January, US and Japanese foreign and defence chiefs shared their concerns about China’s moves to undermine the rules-based international order and vowed to “deter and if necessary, respond” to what they view as destabilising activities in the region.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February, is also generating renewed awareness in Japan of the need for deterrence and enhanced readiness against any possible attempt to change the status quo in the region where China is pressuring Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island which Beijing views as its own.
China has also been militarising outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea and carrying out repeated incursions into waters around a group of East China Sea islets controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing. China calls the disputed islets the Diaoyu Islands, Japan refers to them as the Senkaku Islands.
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During his trip to the United States, Kishi is also planning to visit the Missile Defence Agency and the US Cyber Command to exchange views on ballistic missile defence and cyber cooperation.
Austin and Kishi are likely to reaffirm the two countries’ close cooperation in dealing with North Korea, which has increased its provocative activities in recent months including by test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
