By Yang Danzhi

US Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa, and Minister of Defense Kihara convened the "2+2" US-Japan Security Consultative Committee (SCC) in Tokyo, Japan, on July 28. A joint statement was released after the meeting.

The joint statement mainly covers four aspects.

First, upgrading the current military command system of US Forces Japan (USFJ) to a joint command. According to the joint statement, the USFJ will be reconstituted into a joint force headquarters (JFHQ), a move intended to coordinate with JSDF's commanding system and enhance the two sides' interoperability in response to Japan's plan to form the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) Joint Operations Command (JJOC) by March 2025 to improve the command of its ground, maritime and air force self-defense forces. The joint statement also states that the reconstitution of USFJ will "facilitate deeper interoperability and cooperation on joint bilateral operations in peacetime and during contingencies", including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities, and cybersecurity.

Second, reaffirming America's commitment to "extended deterrence" to Japan, meaning the US military will provide nuclear protection to Japan by countering attacks from any enemy. Japan, the only country in the world that has ever been under nuclear attacks, used to be passive about the "extended deterrence", but now it is supportive of the strategy because of the so-called threats from China and Russia. It is said that Washington and Tokyo have decided to draft and release their first joint document on "extended deterrence".

Third, further establishing China as the target of defense and attack. The joint statement says China's "foreign policy seeks to reshape the international order", which "is a serious concern to the Alliance and the entire international community and represents the greatest strategic challenge in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond." It also blames China for the tension in the South and East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, smearing its legal, right-asserting activities in the South and East China Sea as "unlawful maritime claims" and "threatening and provocative activities".

Fourth, strengthening US-Japan cooperation in military industry. Japan will export more PAC-3 missiles to the US to make up for its shortage resulting from the massive assistance to Ukraine. The two countries will also jointly produce the advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles.

The US-Japan "2+2" meeting and its joint statement will exert negative impacts on regional security.

It will aggravate regional tension. The release of the joint statement indicated that the US and Japan are one step closer to seamless coordination in the security domain and their alliance is more aggressive. Japan will now have no reservations or limitations about its military buildup, with a growing presence and influence in regional security affairs. It's foreseeable that the two countries will keep heating up the existing regional hotspot issues such as the Korean Peninsula, South and East China Sea, and Taiwan Strait.

It will endorse NATO's expansion to the Asia Pacific. Both the agenda and the joint statement of the US-Japan "2+2" meeting are riddled with condemnation of China, Russia and DPRK. They "highlighted with concern Russia's growing and provocative strategic military cooperation with the PRC, including through joint operations and drills in the vicinity of Japan, and the PRC's support for Russia's defense industrial base." They also strongly condemned deepening Russia-DPRK cooperation.

The US and Japan are fostering new bloc confrontation. Despite the US' repeated denial of creating an Asian version of NATO, what it and its allies are doing is pushing the Asia Pacific exactly in that direction, during which the upgraded US-Japan alliance is acting as the core driver.

(The author is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, Renmin University of China.)

Editor's note: Originally published on China.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.