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By Ryan Chan
China News Reporter
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The United States reaffirmed its "nuclear commitment" to defend its security ally Japan on Sunday by reinforcing extended deterrence which defied China's demands on nukes.
The U.S. and Japan held a "two-plus-two" ministerial meeting on extended deterrence for the first time in Tokyo. The two countries have been coordinated on this nuclear issue primarily through the working officials level Extended Deterrence Dialogue, or EDD, since 2010.
An EDD was hosted by the U.S. at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming in June to strengthen extended deterrence, which was described as the core of the alliance. The base operates nuclear-tipped missiles where the two sides also conducted a tabletop exercise.
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Extended deterrence is a commitment to deter and to respond to potential nuclear and non-nuclear scenarios in defense of allies and partners, also known as providing a "nuclear umbrella," according to the U.S. Air Force doctrine publication on nuclear operations.
The U.S. and Japan planned to compile their first joint document on extended deterrence within the year, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported last week. It will be specific on what circumstances Tokyo should face in order for Washington to retaliate with its nukes.
China's state-run newspaper Global Times claimed the U.S. considered deploying nukes in Japan, which could see the Asian country viewed as a nuclear-weapon state. It said Tokyo was ready to be considered a "potential nuclear target" due to its alliance with Washington.
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During the meeting in Tokyo, the foreign and defense ministers from the U.S. and Japan underlined the steady progress in strengthening nuclear coordination via the EDD and deepening discussions on extended deterrence, the two countries said in a joint statement.
China expanded its nuclear arsenal in an "accelerating and opaque" way, which was among the factors of an increasingly deteriorating regional security environment, the joint statement declared. Beijing has decided to speed up the development of strategic deterrence forces.
The U.S. and Japan condemned North Korea for pursuing nuclear weapons programs, while they criticized Russia's compromising arms control and global nonproliferation regime. The two sides restated the need to reinforce deterrence under these circumstances.
"During that meeting, I reaffirmed our ironclad commitment to defend Japan with the full range of our capabilities, including our nuclear capabilities," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at a press briefing in Tokyo after talks with the top Japanese officials.
"It was extremely meaningful that the first ministerial meeting dedicated and standalone to extended deterrence was held where intensive discussions took place," Japan's Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said, pointing to a severe security environment which included nuclear.
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Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa emphasized the need to enhance deterrence for defending international order. Her counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reasserted that Washington would defend Japan with its nuclear deterrence capabilities.
Earlier this month, China demanded the U.S. adopt a policy of no-first-use of nukes and to abandon extended deterrence to non-nuclear allies in Europe and Asia. Beijing also paused nuclear talks with Washington as it accused the U.S. of continuing to sell weapons to Taiwan.
The U.S. provides its "nuclear umbrella" to the transatlantic military alliance NATO by forward-deploying 100 tactical nuclear bombs in Europe as a deterrence to possible invasions by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and by its successor Russia nowadays.
In the Pacific region, Australia, Japan, and South Korea benefit from Washington's extended deterrence. The Federation of American Scientists estimated another 100 tactical nukes, which are stored in the U.S., would be used in support of allies in Northeast Asia.
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