Japan, US Unveil New Rules For Defence Cooperation

The guidelines between the U.S. and Japan, for a fresh defence pact, have been announced in New York by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the U.S. for talks on Tuesday. The new set of rules and regulations are mutually beneficial and they enable both the countries to work in close proximity with each other.

According to a BBC report, this enhanced military cooperation between the two nations will help to curb growing Chinese might in Asia. Therefore, this would assist both the countries to work in close cooperation in case of strife in North Korea or the East China sea. This would make Japan more assertive militarily. At present, only self-defence is constitutionally allowed. Mr Abe has called for reformulation of the same. This is sure to scare Japan’s neighbours particularly those on its East Asian side.

The U.S. has welcomed the move by Japan and supported its military strengthening on account of the bilateral defence agreement."The guidelines that we have worked on that have been announced today will enhance Japan's security, deter threats and contribute to regional peace and stability," Kerry said. "The United States and Japan stand together in calling for disputes in the region to be resolved peacefully."

The fresh set of rules and regulations will likely reflect Japan's shift in its defence aspirations clearly marked in a cabinet resolution last year in the month of July. This emboldening of its military implies a drastic revamping of its constitutional doctrines. “This could be a major change in how the alliance functions. The U.S. is hoping to get Japan more deeply involved in international missions and Japan wants to bolster alliance integration as a way of increasing deterrence against China,” Jim Schoff, a former Pentagon official and Japan specialist at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington DC, said.

For the U.S. an ameliorated defence agreement with Japan is a vital constituent of its strategy in Asia. For Japan as across Asia, this move comes at a time when the Chinese are getting more and more powerful by the day.

The writer can be contacted at ritambanati@yahoo.com