When Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a historic summit Wednesday at the White House, he came with an important message for U.S. President Joe Biden: Japan is ready to act as America¡¯s ¡°global partner¡± in maintaining the rules-based international order and countering China¡¯s growing assertiveness.
To back this up, Kishida agreed to a number of both defense and economic security tie-ups that take bilateral ties to unprecedented heights as Tokyo doubles down on its partnership with Washington and like-minded nations to shore up deterrence and prepare for a possible Ukraine-type crisis in East Asia.
From revamping the U.S. military¡¯s command in Japan to U.S. ship maintenance and an expanded technological and defense-industrial collaboration, the list of new security initiatives is long ¡ª a reflection of what the two allies called the start of a ¡°new era¡± as bilateral ties evolve from ¡°alliance protection to alliance projection.¡±
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