WASHINGTON: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and US President Joe Biden are expected to agree at their upcoming meeting to revamp operational coordination between Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and US forces stationed in Japan.

At the bilateral summit, scheduled to be held at the White House on Wednesday, the leaders would underscore the importance of the SDF and the US military in the East Asian ally overhauling their respective command and control systems to better coordinate operations of troops, people familiar with the matter said.

Experts point out that US Forces Japan’s command, headquartered at the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, only has authority over base management and some other affairs while US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii is in charge of planning operations and commanding troops of the forces.

Concluding that the situation could hinder Japan-US security cooperation in times of emergency, Tokyo and Washington are considering making the Yokota command play wider roles when Japan sets up a joint operations command for the Air, Ground and Maritime SDF in March 2025.

In another move to chiefly cope with China’s hegemonic moves, Kishida and Biden are set to agree to establish a body to discuss joint development and production of defense equipment.

They are also expected to allow vessels belonging to the US 7th Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, to receive repair and maintenance services in Japan and to announce that Japan will cooperate on advanced military technology development with Australia, Britain and the United States under their AUKUS security framework for the Indo-Pacific region.

Besides military matters, Kishida and Biden would reaffirm a joint plan to establish a hub for relief supplies to be sent in the event of natural disasters.

Other agreements eyed by the leaders are 110-million-dollar financial assistance for artificial intelligence research projects involving Japanese and US universities and collaborations in semiconductor and space development programs.

Taken as a whole, they aim to reassure Japan-US efforts to maintain and strengthen the free and open international order and to highlight cooperation in wide-ranging areas between the two nations as “global partners,” informed sources said.

After the summit, Kishida and Biden plan to hold a press conference together in the White House’s Rose Garden and release a joint statement to sum up the meeting.

Kishida is scheduled to attend with his wife, Yuko, an official dinner party to be hosted by Biden and the first lady the same day.

JIJI Press