The U. S. and Japan are brandishing their alliance—and military hardware—as both countries stare down North Korea’s nuclear threat and grapple with its long
The U. S. and Japan are brandishing their alliance—and military hardware—as both countries stare down North Korea’s nuclear threat and grapple with its long-standing ally, the Chinese communist regime.
With the Trump administration giving up hope China can rein in North Korea, there is renewed focus on cementing relationships with democratic allies in the region.
On Wednesday, Aug. 16, two U. S. Air Force B-1B Lancers joined two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15s for an exercise near the Senkaku Islands, the same islands Japan and China have a simmering feud over.
Those bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base, in Guam, the U. S. territory that North Korea routinely threatens to bomb.
The Air Force said the training flights with Japan “demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.“
The next day, the United States and Japanese foreign affairs and defense ministers met in Washington to reaffirm the alliance. That included a statement reiterating that the United States backs Japan’s claim to the Senkaku Islands.
“The bonds of America and Japan have—forged over previous decades will continue to endure, ” U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters as Secretary of Defense James Mattis and their Japanese counterparts looked on.
The two countries were committed to confronting security threats in the region, he said, adding that North Korea was a major topic of their talks.
