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U.S. Defense Chief Jim Mattis Reaffirms Ties in Visit to South Korea, Japan
Reassurance comes as President Trump threatens to shake ties with global allies
By ALASTAIR GALE
Feb. 3, 2017 9:32 a.m. ET
TOKYO—As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to overturn ties with America’s global allies, his defense minister gave an assurance to two Asian countries that depend on U.S. military support: we won’t abandon you.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pledged to uphold a commitment to defend Japan in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, after giving a similar guarantee to South Korea’s leadership.
The U.S.-Japan mutual defense treaty “is as real today as it was a year or five years ago, and as it will be a year or 10 years from now,” Mr. Mattis told Mr. Abe in remarks in front of reporters before a closed-door meeting.
Japan and South Korea are among the nations that have been rattled by Mr. Trump’s highlighting of the burdens of existing alliances. U.S. ties to Australia were put under strain this week after Mr. Trump criticized a deal reached under the Obama administration for the U.S. to receive refugees held by Australia.
Mr. Trump has also questioned the financial burden of stationing around 65,000 U.S. troops in Japan and South Korea. Washington and its allies share the costs of sustaining those forces, but during election campaigning Mr. Trump said the U.S. shouldn’t have to pay.
Tokyo and Seoul also benefit from unfair trade advantages with the U.S., Mr. Trump has said.
The criticism has triggered anxiety in Japan and South Korea, in large part because they depend heavily on U.S. military power to deter an increasingly assertive China and rapidly advancing North Korean nuclear threat.
An American pullout from Japan and South Korea could trigger instability if either country faces a military challenge from Beijing or Pyongyang. They would likely be forced to rapidly expand their militaries or turn to nuclear weapons for defense.
Mr. Mattis indicated there were no plans to withdraw.
“I want there to be no misunderstanding that during the transition in Washington we stand firmly, 100% shoulder to shoulder with you and the Japanese people,” Mr. Mattis said to Mr. Abe. In Seoul on Friday, Mr. Mattis told his South Korean counterpart the U.S. defense commitment was “ironclad.”
Officials in both Japan and South Korea appeared reassured. Mr. Abe said that Mr. Mattis’s decision t o make his first overseas visit to the region was “testament to the new administration’s emphasis on the Japan-U.S. alliance.”
Some analysts said that despite the message of strong alliances, pitfalls such as the cost-sharing arrangements for U.S. forces could still destabilize ties.
“Regardless of what Secretary Mattis says or does, President Trump has the final say on a lot of these matters,” said James Kim, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank in Seoul .
Robert Kelly, a political-science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea, said the security guarantee likely reflected the Trump administration’s goal of confronting China. Mr. Kelly cited remarks made last year by Mr. Trump’s Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon about a potential war in the South China Sea.
“The risk could increase for Japan and South Korea,” he said.
In comments made before reporters in both South Korea and Japan, Mr. Mattis singled out North Korea as the primary threat in the region. Pyongyang has claimed it is ready to test a long-range missile for the first time and says it can load nuclear warheads onto its missiles.
Mr. Mattis referred to unspecified other threats in the region, but didn’t mention China by name. In a summary of his meeting with Mr. Abe released by the Japanese foreign ministry, Mr. Mattis confirmed that the bilateral defense treaty covers islands in the East China Sea administered by Japan but also claimed by China.
China’s Defense Ministry declined to comment on Mr. Mattis’ trip. The Foreign Ministry zeroed in on the renewed U.S.-South Korea commitment to deploy a U.S.-built antimissile system—which Beijing has previously objected to as a threat to Chinese security.
“Any action by the U.S. or South Korea that undermines the stability and strategic balance in the region will not solve the situation in the Korean peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a briefing in Beijing.
Mr. Abe told Mr. Mattis that Japan will strengthen its capability of self-defense and seek to expand a role it plays in the alliance, according to the summary of their meeting.
A Japanese foreign ministry official said the issue of the cost burden of the U.S. military in Japan wasn’t mentioned in the meeting. |
