WASHINGTON NAVY YARD \u2013 More exercises and closer cooperation with the Japanese fleet is on the agenda as the U.S. Navy’s top officer meets in late July\u00a0with the head of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, here during a time of rising tensions with China over territorial disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert said at an arrival ceremony that his Japanese counterpart, Adm. Tomohisa Takei, “is going to bring the Japanese-American alliance into a new chapter.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are about to move forward into an unprecedented level of cooperation for the security of Northeast Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and, I would submit \u2014 because it’s the most important region in the world \u2014\u00a0the security of the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to reporters largely from the Japanese media after the event, Greenert said the two navies would discuss a whole <\/span>range of missions that are on the agenda<\/span>, including the possibility of<\/span>\u00a0ballistic missile defense cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “With the desire of the prime minister to expand the defense policies of Japan \u2026 I think it’s a totally new chapter in our relationship with the Maritime Self-Defense Force,” he said. “Our leaders have given us an opportunity and now it’s time to take advantage of it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tensions with China have prompted Japan to shift its approach to regional security away from its strict policy of self-defense only, to a more active role \u2014 including the possibility that its Navy, one of the region’s largest, could participate in patrols and missions with the United States and allies.\u00a0could participate in a collective self-defense mission with the United States and allies in a regional conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts say the shift is largely due to the politics of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many Japanese feel threatened by China, and those concerns have been reflected in Japan’s evolving policies under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said retired Adm. James Stavridis, who is dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Shinzo Abe has been much more assertive and forward leaning than his predecessors going all the way back to the <\/span>World War II,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stavridis, who is a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe\u00a0top officer<\/span>, said the shift would yield likely result in <\/span>more opportunities for sailors to work with the JMSDF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I think sailors can expect an upgraded set of exercises, technology exchanges, sailor exchanges, and an even more welcoming sense for U.S. forces in Japan,” he said. “Overall I think it’s very positive.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of the Joint Staff of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, said the recent actions by China \u2014 including aggressive moves like creating an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea and building artificial islands in the South China Sea \u2014 have been worrisome and that Japan is reassessing how it approaches its fraught relationship with its larger neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “In the case of China, as we can see with the South China Sea problem, they are rapidly expanding their naval presence and their defense spending is still growing,” Kawano told The Wall Street Journal. “Also because there is a lack of transparency, we are very concerned about China’s actions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenert said Wednesday that the current situation in the South China Sea was largely static.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I think the current situation, if I were to describe it, would be strategic equilibrium,” Greenert said, adding that going on to reassert that <\/span>the U.S. does not recognize China’s claims based on its artificial islands construction<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We will be present in the South China Sea,” he said. “We have been, we will be. We will fly, we will steam in the South China Sea. It is an area of great economic and strategic interest to the United States, to Japan and to the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Takei went on to say that the U.S. Navy has expressed interest in having the Japanese patrol the South China Sea, and said his force would act under the instructions of his government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “All oceans should be free,” he said. “This is important for the economy and the peace of the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just this month, Japan participated in Operation Talisman SabreSaber<\/span>, a large exercise with Australia and U.S. involving 33,000 troops embedded with U.S. troops, embedded with the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan is also likely to participate in October’s Exercise Malabar, an annual exercise between India and Japan, according to a report from Japanese media in July. Greenert referenced the exercise in his comments at the ceremony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The U.S. and Japan are in talks to boost cooperation on missions like ballistic missile defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":41658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3231],"class_list":["post-19566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ZM2L6RPM6BBNXHHQEGREK37TLA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2015\/07\/30\/cno-calls-on-japan-and-u-s-to-forge-closer-ties\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n