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U.S. President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga walk through the Colonnade to take part in a joint press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on April 16, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s visit to the White House this week sent a clear message—Japan and the U.S. are united in their commitment to a stable, free, and open Indo-Pacific.
Writing on the Biden-Suga Summit for the Dallas Morning News, former U.S. ambassador-designate to Japan and Hudson's Walter P. Stern Chair Ken Weinstein notes the critical role played by the Trump administration in transforming the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue from an Indo-Pacific forum into an alliance.
In The Hill, Hudson's Asia-Pacific Security Chair Patrick Cronin highlights the U.S. and Japan's shared priorities, from ensuring supply chain resilience in critical industries to upholding the importance of human rights in foreign policy (see below for key takeaways from Patrick's op-ed).
And be sure to read the new policy memo by John Lee, Eric Brown, and Tom Duesterberg,
proposing seven areas of cooperation that would enable the Quad to protect global networks and technology from China's digital authoritarianism.
Key Takeaways
Key takeaways from Patrick Cronin's op-ed, "U.S.-Japan Alliance in Full Bloom."
1. Technology is an increasing area of geopolitical cooperation between the U.S. and Japan:
The commanding heights of the 21st century economy center on technology. While the United States and Japan retain a strong interest in economic cooperation with China, those relations become considerably sharper over leading-edge technologies such as 5G telecommunications, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Biden and Suga should showcase their commitment, not against China, but in favor of technological innovation and secure connectivity.
2. Supply chain resiliency will be critical to the post-pandemic growth of the North American and Japanese economies:
A rebounding U.S. economy and Japan will collaborate to strengthen the resilience of vital supply chains. Semiconductor chips are essential for all electronics, and Suga and Biden are determined to ensure their availability… An excellent way for the alliance to demonstrate a commitment to practical technology cooperation would be to work together to expand investment in 5G Open Radio Access Networks (ORAN). Given the concerns surrounding allowing China to dominate fifth-generation telecommunications infrastructure, the United States and Japan need to scale up a cloud-based software alternative.
3. China's provocations in the Indo-Pacific have led to a closer U.S.-Japan military alliance:
A key challenge facing the alliance is how to impose costs on China’s gray-zone nibbling while deterring Beijing’s temptation to leap to the use of force. The potential for a dust-up over the Senkaku Islands or Taiwan is real. At the summit, Biden will reaffirm America’s Article V commitment to the defense of Japan, including territories under its administration. Suga should take a crucial reciprocal step by declaring that any attack on U.S. forces in Japan is equivalent to an attack on Japan.
Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
Go Deeper
Fall of Taiwan Would Spell the End of US Preeminence
In recent weeks, the People’s Liberation Army staged its largest incursion into Taiwan's airspace since China began its daily airspace violations in 2020, Seth Cropsey and Harry Halem write in RealClearPolicy. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's Admiral Phil Davidson and Admiral John Aquilino have each told Congress that China could attack Taiwan within the next six years. The Biden administration's flat defense budget will send a signal of weakness to Beijing at this perilous moment for Taiwan and the broader Indo-Pacific.
US-Japan Relations Under Biden and Suga: The Future of a Critical Alliance
The Biden administration has committed to nurturing strong relations with Japan. Can we expect this momentum to continue as the U.S. and Japan grapple with challenges such as climate change, Chinese aggression, and the continued fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic? Hudson Japan Chair H.R. McMaster convened a panel of experts on U.S.-Japan relations to explore these questions and the importance of Prime Minister Suga's White House summit with President Biden.
Winning the Geo-Tech Battle and Building the Quad Alliance in the Indo-Pacific
Beijing is pouring billions into artificial intelligence and surveillance technology to impose its new “digital totalitarianism” inside China. Yet it is also using its growing technological prowess to press its larger geopolitical agenda in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. In a new policy memo, Eric Brown, John Lee, and Tom Duesterberg examine seven areas of cooperation among members of the Quad alliance that would establish a technological ecosystem anchored in democratic values rather than authoritarianism.
