China and Japan kicked off their first direct defense talks in four years in Tokyo this week, aiming to cool tensions after a period of major stress for the region.
Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong headed China’s delegation for the two-day talks, while Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Shigeo Yamada headed Japan’s team. The last bilateral security talks were held before COVID-19 struck in Beijing in February 2019.
The negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of rising strains across the region, adding new fuel to the longstanding fires over territorial disputes and China’s rise as an economic and military superpower challenging the U.S. and its allies.
East Asia is the stage for a regional arms race, tensions over contested island chains and a sharpening great-power rivalry over the future of Taiwan. Japan has announced a shift to a more assertive security policy, moving closer to the U.S. and easing the restrictions that kept its forces largely focused on defense of the homeland.
According to media reports from Tokyo, Mr. Yamada highlighted the territorial clash with Beijing over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which both countries claim as part of their sovereign territory. Fishing and coast guard vessels from both sides frequently clash in the waters around the islands, which are administered by Japan.
China has expressed concern that recent military exercises in and around Japan, which included U.S. troops as well as contingents from Australia and the UK, have focused on “recapturing islands.”
Mr. Yamada also raised the issue of three alleged Chinese spy balloons that have intruded into Japanese air space since 2019. Tensions between Beijing and Washington have been exacerbated by the downing of another suspected Chinese spy balloon by the U.S. Air Force off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month.
For his part, Mr. Sun reportedly warned against “negative moves” by Tokyo regarding Taiwan, which he said were being carried out “in collusion with powers outside the region.”
High-profile political voices in Tokyo, including the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have been raised in support of Taipei, amplifying warnings by the U.S. about Beijing’s increasing aggressive moves toward the island.
Were a war over Taiwan to break out, Japan is not treaty-bound to defend the island. But as the home to some 50,000 American troops, many believe Japan would be dragged into the conflict.
Japan has been quietly building up its firepower in locations near the potential combat zone, establishing new military bases along the southern Ryukyu Islands chain, notably on the islands of Ishigaki and Miyako.
Ishigaki is the closest Japanese island to Taiwan, making it a potential forward-operating base in a war with China. Miyako dominates the Miyako Strait, a strategic chokepoint that Chinese fleets must transit before reaching open Pacific.
In 2018, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces established an amphibious infantry brigade, and is currently converting two helicopter carriers to F35-capable light aircraft carriers. The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in December plans to double Japan’s defense spending to the NATO standard of 2% of GDP and said it was acquiring a “counterstrike” force of U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles.