New US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, agreed in a phone call yesterday to continue efforts to strengthen the countries’ alliance, Tokyo said.
Hegseth — a former infantryman and Fox News personality — was sworn in last weekend, having narrowly won US Senate confirmation despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and concerns over inexperience.
Key allies Japan and the US are each other’s top foreign investors, and 54,000 US military personnel are stationed in Japan, mostly in Okinawa, east of Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
However, US President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach could mean less cash from Washington for security in the region, analysts have said.
“The Ministers affirmed their firm intent to continue the initiatives to reinforce the Alliance, including the upgrading of respective command and control framework and expansion of bilateral presence in the southwestern region of Japan,” the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Nakatani said “he looks forward to working with Secretary Hegseth to further strengthen the Alliance capabilities to deter and respond amid the increasingly severe security environment” in the Asia-Pacific region, it added.
Photo: AP
“The Ministers reaffirmed that Article V of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security applies to the Senkaku Islands,” it said, referring to the islands called Diaoyutai (釣魚台), which Taiwan and China also claim.
“The Ministers expressed their willingness to meet in person at the earliest possible time,” the statement said.
Nakatani also extended his condolences to relatives of those killed in Wednesday’s air crash in the US between a passenger jet and a military helicopter.
On Saturday last week, Hegseth pledged to “restore the warrior ethos” in the Pentagon, thanking Trump for selecting him and Vice President J.D. Vance for his tie-breaking vote in the Senate that allowed his nomination to pass.
Vance’s vote on Friday evening was only the second time in history a vice president had to intervene to save a Cabinet nominee and came after three Republicans — including former leader Mitch McConnell — cast ballots against Hegseth.
Hegseth has a combative media personality, fierce loyalty and telegenic looks — common hallmarks in Trump’s entourage.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed a wish to meet Trump in Washington, with local media reporting that Friday next week is being eyed as a potential date.
Ishiba last week said that Tokyo must “continue to secure the US commitment to the region, to avoid a power vacuum leading to regional instability.”
“As the balance of power in the region undergoes a historic change, we must deepen Japan-US cooperation further, in a concrete manner,” he told parliament.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
RSS