“The US will transform its military forces in Japan to a joint force headquarters with expanded missions and operational responsibilities,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said after the 2+2 talks (defence and foreign ministers).
The headquarters will report to the commander of US Forces Indo-Pacific Command and will be headed by a three-star general.
“This will be the most significant change in the U.S. Armed Forces in Japan since its inception and one of the strongest improvements in our military ties with Japan in 70 years,” Austin added.
In addition, it was said that the new command structure of the US Forces Japan will be implemented in parallel with Tokyo’s own plans to establish a unified command of its forces by March 2025.
It was reported that the announced moves were prompted by the “changing security environment” due to various threats from China: “provocative” behaviour in the South China and East China Seas, joint military exercises with Russia and the rapid increase in China’s nuclear weapons arsenal.
Improvement of the US and Japanese military chain of command is an obvious sign of preparations for a military conflict with China. Most likely over Taiwan – but there are other contenders for the fuse. The deployment of U.S. land-based intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, which began with the Philippines, will be extended to Japan and South Korea. Note that Tokyo has its own missile programme to modernise existing and create new land-based missile systems, including hypersonic ones.
These measures also have an impact on Russia’s security. The same Japan has territorial claims to our country over the southern Kuril Islands. Its militarisation and the strengthening of the US military presence in the region will require us to take symmetrical measures. Vladimir Putin has already announced the need to build and deploy land-based intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in response to the actions of the United States and its allies.
Japan’s elite, which is subordinate to Washington, should remember that it is, in Putin’s words, “a state with a small territory and a very dense population.” And consider the fact that Russia’s RSMDs have both conventional and nuclear warheads.
Elena Panina