US eyes change to military command in Japan as China threat looms

TOKYO/WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will agree next month to tighter military cooperation, including talks on the biggest potential change to Washington’s East Asia command structure in decades, two sources said.

Washington will consider appointing a four-star commander to oversee its forces in Japan as a counterpart to the head of a proposed Japanese Self Defence Forces (SDF) headquarters overseeing all of the country’s military operations, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the plan.

“We are in discussion about how our planned joint command can strengthen cooperation with the US and South Korea,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Monday at a regular media briefing when asked about the reports. The agenda for the Biden-Kishida summit has not yet been decided, he added.

Kishida wants to establish the joint command headquarters before the end of March 2025. Tokyo has said it has “serious concern” over China’s growing military power and the threat it poses Taiwan, just over 100-kms from Japanese territory.

Unlike in neighbouring South Korea, where US and South Korean troops can operate under a unified command under a four-star general, US air, land and sea forces in Japan have a three-star commander and do not have any authority over Japanese troops.

A four-star commander - the highest peacetime rank in any of the US service branches - would match the rank of the Japanese counterpart in the new headquarters. A US officer of that rank might lay the groundwork for a future unified Japanese-US command, experts say.