Japan’s Ishiba touts strength of US alliance in call with Biden

WASHINGTON – Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he agreed to continue strengthening the Japan-US alliance and further build ties with mutual allies in his first phone call with US President Joe Biden

after taking over as national leader

.

“In addition to increased Japanese defence spending, we covered enhancing how we work together to boost the alliance,” Mr Ishiba said in remarks to reporters after the call on Oct 2.

A self-declared “defence nerd” and former defence minister, Mr Ishiba is a strong supporter of the US-Japan alliance and has also raised novel ideas on ways to develop military ties, including by building bases for Japan’s military in the US.

At a press conference on Oct 1 after being confirmed as prime minister, Mr Ishiba repeated a point he has often made about the need to make the alliance more like a pact between equal partners.

The US has around 55,000 troops stationed at bases in Japan, its largest permanent overseas military presence. In return for the use of bases, the US agreed to help defend Japan under a security pact first signed in 1951.

In recent years, Japan has changed laws to allow it to help defend the US military in the vicinity of Japan, but it remains legally and constitutionally restricted in how it can deploy forces overseas.

The Japanese military, known as the Self-Defence Forces, also suffers from a lack of space for training in Japan.

Occasional crimes and misconduct by US service members in Japan, meanwhile, frequently lead to backlashes from communities and local officials in areas where US bases are located,

particularly in the southern prefecture of Okinawa.

Mr Ishiba said he did not discuss any revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement that guides how the US military operates in Japan during his call with Mr Biden, but added he hoped it would be a topic of discussion during his administration.

The two leaders discussed further developing trilateral ties with South Korea, as well as strengthening a network of security relationships with other countries in the region, including with Australia and India, Mr Ishiba said.

According to a separate statement issued by Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Mr Ishiba and Mr Biden agreed to closely coordinate their responses to actions by China, as well as North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme, and the longstanding problem of Japanese citizens abducted and held by North Korea. BLOOMBERG