by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – The United States and Japan said on Wednesday they would step up their cooperation on security matters, with Washington also welcoming Tokyo’s move to expand its military capabilities.
“We believe that the PRC (People’s Republic of China, ed) represents for us and our allies the greatest strategic challenge,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after meeting with his Japanese counterpart in Washington.
The Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has announced for his part the establishment of a regiment of Marines in Japan, which would allow the deployment of important capabilities, such as anti-ship missiles.
The two countries have also agreed to extend the terms of their defense treaty to space, Antony Blinken added.
Lloyd Austin will meet with Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada again on Thursday, the day before US President Joe Biden meets with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Antony Blinken also welcomed Tokyo’s decision to boost its military capabilities by doubling defense spending to about 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over five years.
“It’s very simple, we welcome this new strategy, especially as it converges so beautifully with ours,” he said. (With contributions from Humeyra Pamuk, David Brunnstrom and Eric Beech; French version Camille Raynaud)
