Washington [US], July 29: Yesterday, July 28, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a security dialogue with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Defense Minister Kihara Minoru in Tokyo.
According to AFP, an important content of this 2+2 meeting is that the US announced an upgrade of the command structure in Japan with the establishment of a new joint command headquarters commanded by a 3-star general. Currently, there are about 54,000 US troops stationed in Japan and the head is obliged to report to the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii.
In addition, observers said the two sides also discussed strengthening the US commitment to defend its allies with military capabilities, including nuclear weapons . On the same day, the US, Japanese and South Korean defense ministers held a trilateral meeting and signed a memorandum of understanding on closer defense cooperation, including maintaining policy consultations, information sharing and trilateral exercises. The ministers issued a joint statement reaffirming their strong opposition to unilateral actions that change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific waters .
The talks come ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers from the Quad (India, the US, Japan and Australia) in Tokyo on July 29. US officials said the foreign ministers will discuss regional and international security issues, as well as initiatives related to key and emerging technologies, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, climate change and infrastructure development. The two US ministers will then travel to the Philippines for a 2+2 dialogue with their allies. Tokyo and Manila signed a defense agreement this month that allows their forces to deploy on each other's territory.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
