Japan key to US plan to rally allies against China in Indo-Pacific, observers say

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin urges Tokyo to strengthen its contribution to regional security

Japan has been stepping up its role in the region by building partnerships with neighbours and allies

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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has used the first conversation with his Japanese counterpart to reaffirm Tokyo’s importance to Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 5:04pm, 27 Jan 2021Updated: 8:10pm, 27 Jan 2021

Japan is expected to play a prominent role in the new US administration’s efforts to rally its allies in the Indo-Pacific region – including the South China Sea – in an attempt to counter China’s rise, according to observers.

In a move that will deepen unease among Beijing policymakers, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin used his first conversation with his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi to reaffirm Washington’s commitment to its partnership with Tokyo. He also urged him to “strengthen Japan’s contribution to the role the alliance continues to play in providing security in the Indo-Pacific region”.

President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking to rebuild US alliances which were sorely tested by his predecessor’s America First policies.

Benoit Hardy-Chartrand, an East Asia affairs expert at Temple University in Tokyo, said Japan – which hosts the largest number of US troops in the region, as well as providing a base for the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet – had a “prominent role” to play, even though the contours of Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy had yet to be determined.

“President Biden himself, as well as his nominee for Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, have made it clear that the reinforcement of Washington’s alliances in the region will be a top priority for the US,” he said.

“Japanese Prime Minister [Yoshihide] Suga will be happy to reciprocate, as he has vowed to maintain the foreign policy orientations of his predecessor Shinzo Abe, under whose leadership Japan has reinforced its role in the alliance with the US and become a more consequential actor in regional security.”