US, Japan eye closer security ties in pact update
Print Edition
JAPAN and the United States agreed yesterday to map out how they will work together if Tokyo needs to use force to help protect a friendly country under attack, as they update defence cooperation guidelines for the first time in nearly two decades.
The development follows Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s historic step away from Japan’s post-war pacifism in July, when the Japanese government reinterpreted pacifist Article 9 of the constitution to end a ban that has kept its military from fighting abroad.
The interim report on the update, which is intended to give general direction of the revision, is attracting close attention from China and South Korea, which suffered from Japan’s aggression before and during World War Two.
Tokyo and Washington also said they would build a seamless security framework to better defend Japan and extend the areas of cooperation to space and cyberspace.
“The two governments will take measures to prevent the deterioration of Japan’s security in all phases, seamlessly, from peacetime to contingencies,” the interim report said.
The United States is obliged to defend Japan under their bilateral security treaty.
The first guideline update in 17 years comes as the United States tries to shift its diplomatic and security focus to Asia.
When defence and foreign ministers from the US and Japan met in Tokyo last October, they agreed to update defence cooperation guidelines by the end of 2014 to respond to the changing security environment in the region.
“These revised guidelines will capture the greater scope of our alliance cooperation, reflecting its more global nature,” a senior US State Department official said.
Some countries in the region including China, South Korea and Australia had been briefed on planned changes, the US state department official said.
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