The United States and Japan will undertake a significant upgrade of their security alliance since the 1960 Mutual Defense Treaty. The plan to upgrade the security alliance is seen as Japan’s and the United States’ response to an increasingly aggressive China in the region.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will announce plans to restructure the U.S. military command, U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ), during a summit between the two leaders on April 10th. The plans will seek to enhance “operational planning and exercises between the nations” as well as increase coordination between the two militaries.
Several potential structuring options are currently on the table, ranging from upgrading USFJ, basing a Joint Task Force in Japan, to stationing a four-star general and giving more operational command authorities to coordinate with the Japanese Self-Defense Force.
