AJC Welcomes Enhanced U.S.-Japan Strategic Ties

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Oct 03, 2013, 01:17 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC welcomes enhancement of the U.S.-Japan security relationship. The deepening of military ties, announced during a visit to Tokyo by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, comes amidst growing threats from nuclear-armed North Korea and friction on territorial matters with China.

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"America's longstanding commitment to Japan's security is critical to ensuring stability in the region," said Shira Loewenberg, Director of AJC's Asia Pacific Institute. "Stronger U.S.-Japanese ties, and trilateral cooperation with South Korea, are essential to enhancing regional security in the face of North Korea's military nuclear program and other common threats."

U.S.-Japan talks focused on a renewed security alliance that calls for a new missile defense radar system in Japan, the deployment of U.S. drone aircraft, the relocation of American Marines from Okinawa to Guam, and joint efforts to combat cyberattacks. Japan has pledged to increase its military spending, strengthen its security capacity and expand its assistance to Southeast Asian countries resisting Chinese territorial claims.

The agreement states that the U.S. and Japan should be prepared to deal with "coercive and destabilizing behaviors" and calls upon China to adhere to international norms in its territorial disputes. The U.S. has not taken sides in the dispute between Japan and China over a group of uninhabited islands in the South China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee