
The United States military is prepared to announce a major adjustment of the structure it has throughout Asia, with a new command based in Tokyo as the center of that announcement.
Reuters reported recently that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were scheduled to meet with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa. At that meeting, Austin was expected to announce a major shift in where U.S. forces in Japan are stationed.
This includes a new command that will be located in Tokyo — all part of the country’s deepened ties with Japan at a time when it is looking to respond to the increased ambition that China is showing in that part of the world.
One top U.S. official who spoke with Reuters said:
“Secretary Austin plans to announce that the United States intends to reconstitute U.S. Forces Japan as a Joint Force Headquarters, reporting to the commander of U.S. INDOPACOM.”
This new joint headquarters is something that Japanese officials have been eager to establish as well. They believe that it would help them coordinate better with the U.S. military at a time when the country also believes that threats are growing throughout their region.
According to the report, Japan cites the growing military ambitions that China is displaying as well as the fact that North Korea seems to be increasing the number of missile tests it’s conducting.
Reuters reported that Japanese officials were hoping a four-star general would head up the command. However, the top official from the U.S. said it would be headed by a three-star general.
There’s already a U.S. military base in Japan that’s home to a forward-deployed carrier strike group, hundreds of aircraft and more than 54,000 U.S. troops.
The new command, though, will increase the cooperation between Japan and the U.S. The Japanese recently committed to double its spending on defense from 1% of its GDP to 2% of its GDP, as it continues to seek greater ways to deter North Korea and China from aggression.
This is just the latest move by the Biden administration to increase military ties in the southeast Asia region. In addition to increasing the relationship with Japan, the U.S. has done the same with South Korea, one of America’s other key allies in that region.
In fact, on Sunday, the U.S., South Korea and Japan signed an agreement to “institutionalize” trilateral cooperation, Reuters reported. This agreement includes sharing real-time information on missiles from North Korea as well as hosting more joint military exercises.
After that agreement was signed on Sunday, Kihara told reporters:
“This memorandum strengthens the cooperation between Japan, the United States and South Korea, making our partnership unshakable no matter how the international situation changes.”
Neither the Pentagon nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comments from Fox News and other media outlets.