US-Japan Summit: The United States claims that the US-Japan Summit between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Joe Biden next week will result in a “historic” improvement in defence relations between the long-standing allies.
The leaders are anticipated to announce plans to allow more cooperative development, and possibly co-production, of military and defence equipment on Wednesday in Washington. They are also expected to discuss plans to reform the U.S. military command in Japan, making it better equipped to work with Japanese forces in a crisis.
What is the purpose of the US-Japan Summit?
In addition to speaking at the high-level side seminar, Kishida will have a joint session with President Joe Biden, his foreign policy team, and his cabinet. This is Kishida’s top chance to speak to both parties about better ways to work together in the Indo-Pacific and globally. In a separate trilateral meeting, Kishida, Biden, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the new Philippine president, will discuss the future of the intensifying South China Sea issues and highlight the growing alignment between Washington, Manila, and Tokyo.
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Although the leaders’ primary focus would be to encourage regional cooperation, their meeting is largely focused on reining in China. China is vying with Japan and the United States for influence in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly in the waters where China’s navy is upending the status quo. This front has seen a significant increase in maritime cooperation, not only between the US and Japan but also with other friends and partners in the region like Australia, India, and the Philippines.
Tensions across the Taiwan Strait will also have a significant impact on the summit next week. In the event of a crisis, Kishida and Biden will modernize the systems for coordinating the military forces of the United States and Japan. The three arms of the Japan Self-Defense Forces—air, ground, and naval—will be permanently merged into a single Joint Operations Command upon the establishment of a new operational command by Japan in the upcoming year. During a crisis, the United States also considers strategies to ensure seamless joint operations with Japanese forces. Given the rapidly shifting military dynamics in the region, Kishida and Biden concur that the U.S.-Japan alliance may be utilized in new military capacities.
In his speech to a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress, where there is widespread agreement on the China threat but not on Ukraine, Kishida may make the point that U.S. leadership is essential in this increasingly unstable period of world affairs, whether it be in the Indo-Pacific or Europe. China and Russia are opposing the rules-based system, and the U.S.-led coalitions face even greater difficulties as a result of Pyongyang’s involvement in Moscow’s arms supply. Kishida will probably remind Congress how much more unstable his region of the world might become.
The US and Japan will discuss economic security during the prime minister’s visit. The Kishida cabinet, like the Biden administration, has allocated significant funds towards semiconductor manufacturing in Japan to maintain secure supply chains. Concurrently, the government is exploring ways to enhance Japan’s economic security measures and bolster defences in cyberspace and other infrastructure. Japan remains committed to constructing vital infrastructure within the Quad, in collaboration with the United States, Australia, and India, to support the economic development of Indo-Pacific nations. While in New Delhi in May 2023, Kishida stated that Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific policy would be changed.
What major differences do the US and Japan have with each other?
Kishida wants the US to work with other countries besides the Indo-Pacific area to keep the international order open, free, and based on rules, especially after Russia invades Ukraine.
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Japan, a member of the Group of Seven (G7), has imposed sanctions on Russia and promoted aid to Ukraine, amounting to almost $7 billion for the country and neighbouring nations that take in refugees fleeing the fighting. Furthermore, Kishida has made it apparent that Japan sees the assault as a global challenge by pointing out that what was happening in Europe could just as easily happen in the Indo-Pacific at the two NATO summits held since the invasion.
But Biden and Kishida will have to handle their disagreements wisely. The United States’ decision to leave the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017 surprised many people in Tokyo, and Kishida, like Prime Minister Abe Shinzo before him, anticipates that Washington will change its mind in the future. The Japanese government is urging the United States to diminish China’s influence on trade in the Indo-Pacific region. Additionally, the US, Japan, and Europe must discover methods of mitigating and reducing the risks of competition while avoiding excessive protectionism. This is because all three countries want to work together more in the future to make technology better.
Like all allied governments, Kishida is concerned that protectionism talk in the US could hurt international commerce during a presidential election year. Donald Trump, a Republican candidate and former president, has advocated for broad-based tariffs on international trade, which would be disastrous for Japanese companies doing business in the US and for Tokyo and Washington’s efforts to balance Chinese economic coercion in the Indo-Pacific. President Biden later stated that the American company would remain under “domestic ownership and operation.”.
He retracted his previous statement regarding the government’s investigation into Nippon Steel’s acquisition of American steel. This decision increases the likelihood of American politics influencing policy decisions this year, despite Washington’s efforts to enhance relations with its closest partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
What foreign policy objectives does Kishida have for Japan?
Despite the perception of many as an idealist rather than a realist, Kishida has brought about significant strategic change in his three years in power. He unveiled a major new ten-year military plan and a new national security strategy in 2022, promising to double the GDP share of security spending to 2% of the GDP of the nation. Kishida has diplomatically dragged Japan fully into the G7 campaign to support Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion because he believes that aggression in Europe might also occur in the Indo-Pacific. Remarkably, the Japanese public has broadly supported both of Kishida’s geopolitical objectives.
“Springtime may see a blossoming US-Japan alliance,” “But cooperative endeavours will be tested by the winds of political change come fall.” senior scholar Mireya Solis of the Brookings Institution stated.
Emanuel presented the latest geopolitical manoeuvres as an essential investment.
He declared, “Roots are being put down.” However, it will atrophy unless you continuously build upon it because it is too early. And everyone is aware of that.
