This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now licensed for reprint.
In response to China’s wide says to Taiwan and the South China Sea, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Wednesday that they would strengthen military relationships.  ,
But Japan’s entrance into the AUKUS stability pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States is still pending, they said.
After a meeting with Biden at the White House, Kishida claimed that the two officials” confirmed that punitive tries to change the status quo” through “force or coercion” were unethical and would be met with “resolute” activity.
” From like a perception, we agreed that our two nations will continue to respond to problems concerning China through near coordination”, Kishida said. We also stated that it was crucial to keep our conversation with China.
The Japanese prime minister stated that Tokyo even supported the United States in protest of” Russia’s aggression against Ukraine” and that it was motivated by the recognition that Ukraine may be East Asia tomorrow.
Kishida called for “peace and security in the Taiwan Strait”, and encouraged Beijing, which claims the political island of Taiwan as part of its territory, to seek “peaceful quality” with Taipei.
The leaders pledged greater deterrence as Beijing took a more confrontational stance on its great territorial claims, including blasting water cannons at Asian vessels.
Wearing aviator glasses throughout the press event, Biden said he and Kishida agreed to increase security assistance, including “modernizing command and control structures” to raise the “interoperability and organizing of our militaries”.
He described the anticipated improvement of security relationships with Tokyo as the “most important” shift in relations since the United States-Japan alliance’s signing in 1951. A fresh shared air-missile security architecture that would also be accessible to Australia will be included, according to the president.
Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom may soon start holding multilateral martial exercises, Biden added. He continued, though, that the actions were” no directed at any single country.”
” In our empire we have with Japan, it’s simply protective in nature”, he said. ” The things we discussed today enhance our assistance, and are simply about protection and readiness”.
AUKUS agreement
There were rumors that Japan had been announced as a fresh partner in the AUKUS stability pact in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s conference.
The U. S. adviser to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, wrote in an op- ed last week that Tokyo was  , set to become , the primary exterior partner of” Pillar 2″ of AUKUS, which aims to establish , a second defense- business base , across the three countries at the heart of the security pact.
However, there were no announcements following the summit, with Biden only stating that “our AUKUS defense partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom is exploring how Japan can join our work in the second pillar,” which he called a “benchmark” in cooperation.
Kishida noted that Japan already had close working relationships with the United States, the UK, and Australia, including participating in recent joint military exercises even if it did not form a formal relationship with AUKUS.
He stated,” We want to contribute to peace and stability in the region, and we have always supported AUKUS.” ” We have established various relationships, but for Japan to have direct cooperation with AUKUS, nothing has been decided”.
To join” Pillar 2″ of AUKUS, Japan would have to put in place export- control and secrecy measures to ensure that American defense technology secrets do not fall into the wrong hands, with U. S. officials still , reviewing , recent changes by Canberra and London.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the Biden and Kishida summit, said while Biden was still in the early stages, with the Australian and British participation still not having signed off on it, it was still possible for Japan to “potentially bring a great deal to AUKUS Pillar 2”.
” We expect the consultations will take a period of months, and it will take a portion of the 2024 calendar year before the AUKUS Pillar 2 vision is fully fleshed- out, and with that]the ability ] to assign specific partners to specific Pillar 2 projects”, the U. S. official said.
Japan “presents a lot to the table,” the official said, noting that the AUKUS partners want to start discussions with Tokyo as soon as possible. However, we still have a way to go.
Differences of opinion
Kishida and Biden also touched on some differences of opinion, such as the U. S. president’s recent decision to oppose the purchase of U. S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel for US$ 14.9 billion.
Biden , said last month , that U. S. Steel must remain domestically- owned, creating some backlash in Japan given the country’s long alliance with the United States.  ,
Kishida reiterated this during the press conference on Wednesday that the dispute between Nippon Steel and American regulators was a private matter on his way to Washington.
” We understand that discussions are underway between the parties”, he said. We hope that the discussions will proceed in a way that benefits both parties. Japan believes that appropriate procedures based on law are  , being implemented by the U. S. government”.
The summit between Kishida and Biden takes place one day before the pair meet with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in what is billed as the first trilateral meeting between the three countries.
Analysts say the meeting at the White House is set to further , bolster U. S. security ties , in the South China Sea with its two major allies amid the ongoing , dispute , between China and the Philippines over , a remote Philippine outpost , at the sea’s Second Thomas Shoal.
Beijing has said the cooperation among the U. S. allies is” stoking bloc confrontation” and “escalating an arms race in the Asia- Pacific”.
