The nominee for the role of U.S. ambassador to Japan wants Tokyo to play a bigger part in its alliance, The Japan Times reports.
On Wednesday, Kenneth Weinstein told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that Washington will ask Tokyo to step up in order to combat China’s growing influence in the area.
To do so, the U.S. will ask Japan to boost its defense capabilities. He said one of the requests will involve asking Japan to complete the relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture to a location within the main island off Nago, which is now decades behind schedule.
“As ambassador, I’d seek to stress the importance of the [U.S.-Japan] alliance, stress the people-to-people exchanges, not that we all need to do more. We need to make the case that we are doing more and Japan needs to do more,” Weinstein told the committee.
Weinstein currently serves as president and chief executive officer of the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington-based think tank. He also is a part of the organization’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, which provides counsel on trade agreements to the U.S. trade representative.
The Hudson Institute has taken a firm stance on China, and that is something Weinstein will likely carry over in his ambassador role, the newspaper reports.
“Beijing’s unlawful maritime claims, disruptive behavior toward neighboring countries and efforts to strong-arm neighbors — many of which are U.S. allies or close partners — and challenges to the liberal, rules-based order need to be called out and countered,” Weinstein wrote in a prepared statement.
He pointed out that Japan has spent more on its defense by investing in new intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies over the past 8 years. He said as ambassador he would work with Japan to do even more. He added he would work with Japan to complete the relocation of the Futenma air base in Okinawa to the northern part of the main island.
“The burden [of U.S. bases in Japan] falls disproportionately on Okinawa. But as we engage in this strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific, all of us need to do more. We’ve seen China’s increased aggressiveness around the Senkaku Islands, where for over 100 days they’ve been sending vessels into territory administered by Japan,” he said.
He also discussed North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and trade in the Indo-Pacific region.
The post of U.S. ambassador to Japan has been vacant since July 2019 when William Hagerty stepped down to run for the Senate.
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