US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated on Tuesday ( Apr 9 ) ahead of US summits this week with Japanese and Philippine leaders that more joint patrols could be planned in the South China Sea following drills by the United States, Australia, the Philippines, and Japan last weekend.
Following increased Chinese pressure on the Philippines in the contested proper lake, ships from the four countries held the tasks on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Joe Biden, the US senator, and Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, meet in Washington. On Thursday, officials from both countries will meet to discuss ways to counteract China, including Ferdinand Marcos, president of the Philippines.
As Sullivan outlined the summits in a normal White House briefing,” We only saw multilateral plus Australia, a new form of plane joint naval patrols, in the future,” Sullivan said.” You can expect to observe more of that in the future.
Sullivan added that the Biden-Kishida mountain would address any potential Chinese engagement in Pillar II of the job with the assistance of its existing Asian and European partners in the AUKUS security pact.
” We’re prepared to work with more partners where they can take skills, and Japan is one of the places that could very well provide abilities to that,” Sullivan said.
” Japan could be a vital source. You will see when they speak monday, an inkling that that’s the way we’re moving in”.
Sullivan stated that Biden and Kishida may make announcements to improve participation in area inquiry and protection.
Sullivan spoke with a Japanese TV station on Monday regarding plans for a new Japanese Self Defense Forces ( SDF) headquarters that Kishida wants to establish by the end of March 2025.
Sullivan said Biden would provide Kishida a” complete dedication… to meet Japan’s upgrade of its own operating command, with an upgrade of our functional command”.
Sources familiar with the organizing have told Reuters that Washington may look into appointing a four-star chief for Japan to match the position of the head of Japan’s new defense office. A US official of that position, according to experts, was lay the foundation for a future unified Japanese-US command.
Sullivan said the details were still to be determined,” but the general strategic direction is obvious.” He stated that the goal is to allow the two nations to “work collectively more effectively, cooperatively against all of the common problems that we face in the Indo-Pacific security domain.”
We are prepared to take a step forward in strengthening our administrative command in Japan and ensuring that we meld our administrative command with Japan’s because we must be able to collaborate in a world of active threats and challenges in a region of active challenges and challenges.
He added that “our shared desire to return to the moon” would be covered in the space discussions.
As Russia and China battle it out, Japan hopes to land its first astronaut on the moon with the US Artemis project, which envisions returning astronauts there by 2026.
As rumors of Japan joining AUKUS began to surface, Australia downplayed the possibility, saying any cooperation would be done “project by project” as a result of differences within the pact regarding adding new members.
A Japanese government official told Reuters on Monday that Australia and Britain would likely not be interested in discussions about formally joining AUKUS until they had actual results from the pact.
Washington is eager to get involved with Japan, but experts and US officials say there are still challenges as a result of Tokyo’s need to develop stronger cyber defenses and more stringent rules for keeping secrets.