The US military is considering modifying its command structure in Japan to better coordinate with the Japan Self-Defense Forces in a Taiwan contingency, the Nikkei Shimbun reported on Saturday.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024 passed by the US Senate at the end of last month calls for the US secretary of defense to draw up a plan for enhancing US security cooperation with Japan, by coordinating and engaging with the joint headquarters of the Self-Defense Forces. The bill calls for the secretary to provide an analysis of the feasibility and advisability of modifying US command structures in Japan.
The new headquarters, which is expected to launch by March 2025, would oversee operations of all three branches of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Nikkei reported.
Photo: AFP / handout / South Korean Ministry of Defense
US President Joe Biden’s administration has begun initial discussions on the modification, people familiar with the matter told Nikkei, which added that the Pentagon declined to comment on the issue.
US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Vice Chairman Rob Wittman voiced support for the Senate’s provision, saying that more time for operational coordination “sometimes can be the difference between victory and defeat,” the Nikkei reported.
The effectiveness of the coordination between the US and Japan should be constantly examined, he added.
The US command structure in Japan is expected to be one of the issues both chambers must address when they convene to draft a final text of the NDAA in the fall, the newspaper said.
As Japan implements its biggest defense reforms since World War II, the long-standing “sword and shield relationship” between the US and Japan is disappearing, it said.
Japan is acquiring long-range strike capabilities such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, and has indicated that it is more willing to get involved in military operations in defense of Taiwan, it added.
The US needs to establish joint command elements in Japan to avoid overlap in operations and ensure swift actions in a contingency, Japan chair at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies Christopher Johnstone said.
The US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii is in charge of coordinating with the Japan Self-Defense Forces, but remote coordination between Tokyo and Hawaii might be risky as China could disrupt communications with cyberattacks, senior political scientist at the RAND Corp Jeffrey Hornung said.
The US military established a Joint Support Force in Tokyo in 2011 to respond to the tsunami-earthquake and the meltdown of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the Nikkei reported.
The force, which was led by the commander of the Pacific Fleet, coordinated day-to-day operations and consulted with the Japanese government on joint responses, it said.
The experience indicated that the US lacked standing joint elements in Japan to facilitate coordination, said James Schoff, a senior director at the Washington-based Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA.
“Valuable time could be lost when responding to a crisis, and it will take a while for all participants to get up to speed,” he said.
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