The Abe Restoration by Mark Craig;

Author:Mark, Craig;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Abe in the US

In preparation for Abe’s visit to the United States from April 28 to May 3, the new US secretary of defense, Ashton Carter, preceded this with a regional visit to Japan and South Korea on April 7–9. Carter amped up the importance of completing the TPP as vital to Asia-Pacific prosperity and security, calling it as “important as another aircraft carrier.” It supplements the US “rebalance,” or “Pivot” of its forces to the Pacific, comprising the redeployment of new long-range stealth bombers, cruise missiles, and space-based and Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities. The USAF’s advanced aircraft, such as the F-22, F-35, B-2, and the US Navy’s Aegis and stealth destroyers will also be deployed, along with increased US Marine Corps detachments. Trilateral cooperation in maritime security, and defense technology sharing with Japan and Australia will also be central to this strategy. Carter expressed concern about China’s “opaque” defense budget, its activities in the South China Sea, and its alleged role in cyber attacks, stating that China and the United States are “not allies, but don’t have to be adversaries.”[45]

At the start of his Japan visit, Carter warned against any militarization of territorial issues in the Pacific; as the United States and the Philippines conducted military exercises around the Spratly Islands, in the largest drills of such kind since 2000. This followed warnings by the US Commander of Pacific Command (CINPAC) to Congress over China’s “Great Wall of Sand,” its construction of islands on South China Sea reefs.[46] The United States is looking for increased Japanese patrols in East Asian waters, as Carter’s visit confirmed revision of the US-Japan defense cooperation guidelines, last altered in 1997. This will facilitate Abe’s constitutional reinterpretation allowing greater potential scope of action for the SDF to support US forces, potentially allowing the SDF to supply the United States and the Philippines in any future South China Sea clash with China. To this end, Abe emphasized the importance of the US-Japan alliance during Carter’s visit.[47]

Highlighting the possible danger that such clashes could result from an escalation of even low-level military incidents, the ASDF reported its intercept scrambles against Chinese and Russian reconnaissance incursions were at record levels last seen during the Cold War, with 943 in 2014, up 16 percent from the previous year.[48] On his way to the United States, Abe gave a speech at the Asian-African Summit in Indonesia, where he expressed “remorse,” for Japan’s role in the Second World War, but gave no additional apology. His second bilateral sideline meeting with Xi Jinping indicated the gradual improvement in bilateral relations was continuing.[49]

Abe’s trip to the United States was the first official visit by a Japanese prime minister in nine years, and his address to Congress was only the third by a Japanese prime minister. The relatively small state dinner held for Abe was only the eighth conducted by President Obama, the lowest number since Truman.[50] During his address to Congress, Abe declared a fundamental deepening of the alliance, as Japan supported the United States “rebalancing” in the Pacific.

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