US, Japan boost scientific cooperation on defence against hypersonic weapons amid China concerns
- The two nations will also collaborate on research and development of advanced space capabilities, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says after ‘2+2’ meeting
- Washington and Tokyo to sign new accord upping Japan’s financial contribution to stationing of US troops on its soil as both seek to counter an assertive China
In a joint statement released following dialogue between the two countries’ diplomatic and defence ministers – the so-called 2+2 meeting, held annually – they pledged to “work together to deter and, if necessary, respond to [China’s] destabilising activities in the region”.
That coordination would include research collaboration between the two countries’ scientists on “emerging defence-related issues”, including countering hypersonic threats and advancing space-based capabilities, Blinken said at the start of the meeting.
“When Japanese and American researchers bring their complementary strengths to bear, we can out-compete and out-innovate anyone,” Blinken said.
Blinken made the remarks at a virtual gathering between himself and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and the pair’s Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi.
As well as research cooperation, Blinken also announced that the two countries would in the coming days sign a new five-year host nation support framework, referring to Tokyo’s financial contribution to the stationing of US troops on Japanese soil.
Under the agreement, Japan will pay US$9.33 billion over the next five years towards the upkeep of US forces in the country, which number around 54,000. That will constitute a 4.6 per cent increase on yearly spending compared with the previous arrangement.
As the two countries have sought to coordinate their efforts to promote what they call a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region, Beijing has accused Tokyo and Washington of ganging up against China and fanning regional confrontation.
Following last year’s 2+2 meeting, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the two countries’ cooperation would “only enable the world to see with increasing clarity the detrimental nature of the US-Japan alliance, which attempts to undermine regional peace and stability”.
Accusing both China and Russia of flouting international norms on land, at sea, in space and in cyberspace, Blinken said on Thursday that Beijing’s “provocative actions keep raising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and in the East [and] South China seas”.
Besides China’s “coercive and aggressive behaviour”, Austin said North Korea’s nuclear ambitions were also contributing to increased regional tensions and challenges to a “stable and secure” Indo-Pacific.
Before the talks, Hayashi spoke with Blinken to request that the US lock down its military bases in Japan, amid a surge of Covid-19 cases in Okinawa that the prefecture’s governor has blamed on US troops.
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And in another sign of the times, Austin took part in Thursday’s meeting while in isolation, following a positive diagnosis for Covid-19 over the weekend. “I’m very grateful that I’m fully vaccinated and got a booster shot,” he told his Japanese counterparts. “My doctor tells me that that’s made my case far milder.”
The virtual gathering stood in contrast to last year’s in-person meeting in Japan, which was the first overseas visit that Blinken and Austin made in their tenures.
In their opening remarks on Thursday, Japanese officials did not name-check Beijing, but it was the implied subject of many of their comments.
“The international community is faced with fundamental and multifaceted challenges,” Hayashi said, “such as the change in the strategic balance, unilateral and coercive attempts to change the status quo, abusive use of unfair pressure and expanding authoritarian regimes, among others.”