OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 13, 2023
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House. Defense Priorities Director of Asia Engagement Lyle Goldstein issued the following statement in response:
“Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to the White House is an important reminder of the salience of Asia-Pacific security issues. Situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait have deteriorated in the past six months, so this close coordination is essential. Enlarged cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in many areas makes sense, whether in space, missile defense, cyber or hypersonic missile technology, or elsewhere.
“Moreover, a more rational and realistic approach to basing seems to be taking shape on Okinawa with some U.S. forces being relocated, while the USMC is developing the quite promising concept of the ‘littoral regiment.’ Tokyo’s movement to increase defense expenditures represents a welcome and long overdue step to rebalance what has been an unfair distribution of responsibilities within the alliance. Still, numerous, severe problems continue to stalk the alliance.
“Current attempts at engagement with North Korea prove inadequate, since both Japan and the U.S. continue to hold to the unrealistic requirement for total denuclearization. In the East China Sea, Washington is ever more entangled in a volatile sovereignty dispute over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands that has no bearing on U.S. national security.
“The most severe problem with the U.S.-Japan alliance is the growing propensity to lean forward into the Taiwan issue. A Taiwan scenario would likely entail immense destruction and could even risk regional or global nuclear war. Nevertheless, Taiwan’s future status is not vital to the security of either the U.S. or Japan, so continued escalation in the direction of military conflict is unwise. Intensive preparation for war by the alliance even threatens to make a bad situation worse by triggering a ‘security dilemma’ and possibly a near-term reckoning with Beijing. In addressing the dangerous Taiwan issue, both Tokyo and Washington should put more efforts into creative diplomacy, seeking Taiwan’s autonomy without risking an unjustified war that could go nuclear.”
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