U.S. Marine Corps 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force 11th Brigade members attend the ceremony marking the U.S.-Japan joint exercise on August 10, 2017 in Eniwa, Hokkaido, Japan. (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

The Indo-Pacific region is home to half of the world's population and many critical maritime shipping routes. It is also emerging as a region that will define international security for years to come.  As China's armed forces continue to militarize disputed islands and flaunt their violations of other nations' territorial sovereignty, the U.S.-Japan alliance will play an integral role defending the rules-based international order and a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

In the latest Look Ahead essay, Hudson Japan Chair Taro Hayashi examines what’s at stake in the Indo-Pacific and how the Japan-U.S. alliance has become a foundational partnership working to promote peace and security in the region. 

Read our key takeaways below, and mark your calendars for Patrick Cronin's upcoming virtual policy workshop on how the U.S. can navigate North Korean diplomacy, deterrence, and disruption during the next administration.

5 Key Takeaways

Highlighted takeaways from the new Look Ahead Series essay, "Towards an Even Stronger Japan-U.S. Alliance." Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

1. The power dynamics of a post-COVID-19 world:

The global challenges caused by COVID-19 have not blunted unilateral attempts to alter the status quo in inter-state competition. Instead, the pandemic has made them more blatant. This trend will ultimately divide the post-COVID-19 world, including the Indo-Pacific region, into two camps. On the one side, there would be open, democratic societies who value the rule of law and respect human rights. The other side would consist of nations with authoritarian regimes ruling by coercion and controlling access to information. The Japan-U.S. Alliance should be the standard-bearer of the first camp, as the two countries hold the same universal values and share the worldview, policy vision, strategies, and methods.

2. The Quad's growing importance:

The quadrilateral cooperation among Japan, the United States, Australia, and India will become an essential partnership in the [Indo-Pacific] region. While strengthening its defense capability to advance security cooperation, Japan will continue to collaborate with the countries that share the free and open Indo-Pacific vision and have ties to the region. This includes countries like Australia, India, the U.K., France, and other European countries, Canada, and New Zealand. Furthermore, the United States intends to evolve its alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region into a networked security architecture to uphold the international rules-based order.

3. Japan's defense commitment to the U.S. and the region:

Japan will continue to fundamentally strengthen its national defense architecture amid the changing security environment to protect its sovereignty and independence through its own initiatives. At the same time, using its defense capability, Japan will fulfill its role in the Japan-U.S. Alliance in every context, from peacetime to armed contingencies. As its National Defense Program Guidelines says, Japan now recognizes more clearly than ever that strengthening its defense capability for its national security is none other than strengthening the Japan-U.S. Alliance and that Japan’s fulfillment of its foremost responsibility as a sovereign nation is the very way to carry out its role under the Japan-U.S. Alliance.

4. China's efforts to secure vital shipping lanes in Asia:

In the East China Sea, Chinese activities have been more aggressive and persistent than ever before. China has intruded for an unprecedented duration into Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, where Article V of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty applies.

China’s unilateral attempts to alter the status quo and to create a fait accompli are also evident in the South China Sea. The South China Sea carries roughly one-third of global shipping and is a vital sea lane for many countries including Japan and the United States. China has militarized the Paracel and Spratly Islands, unilaterally announced the establishment of new administrative districts on those islands, and conducted military exercises, including the launch of ballistic missiles, while declaring a no-sail zone under the proclaimed authority of the administrative districts.

5. China is expanding its anti-access activities in the Pacific:

Steadily increasing its ability to break through the so-called “First Island Chain,” China seeks to enhance its expeditionary capabilities. Chinese vessels, including its aircraft carrier, have already engaged in military exercises in the Pacific Ocean. Taking advantage of not being party to the then-existing INF Treaty, China also developed the ground-based missiles that provide capabilities for penetrating the missile defense of other nations. In this way, China seeks to further improve its capabilities to deny access and deployment to its surrounding area by other countries and to disrupt their operations therein.

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