By Zhang Changyue–
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is visiting Japan for the first time as Pentagon chief, claimed on Sunday that Japan was “indispensable” in tackling China in the region, including across the Taiwan Straits, Reuters reported.
Chinese experts said that the future of the US-Japan alliance will face more challenges, and whether it can continue its momentum of strengthening remains to be seen. They also noted that Hegseth’s remarks are meant to encourage Japan to take on more responsibility, thereby reducing the actual cost of the US.
“We share a warrior ethos that defines our forces,” Hegseth told Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani at a meeting in Tokyo, Reuters reported. “Japan is our indispensable partner” in deterring aggression of China, including across the Taiwan Straits, he said, per Reuters.
Nakatani and Hegseth agreed to accelerate efforts to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence and affirmed progress in upgrading command and control frameworks for smoother coordination between the two countries’ forces, amid “China’s growing assertiveness” in the region, Kyodo News reported.
Hegseth’s hyping of so-called China’s growing assertiveness in the region and praising Japan as an indispensable partner to counter China were not unexpected because since the Biden administration, the US and Japan have been using the so-called China threat fallacy and potential Taiwan Straits crisis as an excuse to enhance their military alliance, Xiang Haoyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Xiang said that the tactic of using China to hype threats and stir up conflicts is a familiar approach. While we should remain vigilant, the future of the US-Japan alliance will face more challenges, and whether it can continue its momentum of strengthening remains to be seen.
As AP reported that Japan is Hegseth’s second stop after the Philippines on his first Asia trip since assuming position, Xiang said Hegseth’s visit came as the US has already seen cracks in its transatlantic partnerships under its America First policy, and in terms of tariff issues and the sharing of defense costs, the US has been pressuring Japan and South Korea.
“In military matters, the US places emphasis on maintaining its dominant position through hard power. But it faces a major contradiction as there is a push to significantly reduce government spending currently in the US,” Xiang said.
“Hegseth’s remarks are partly aimed at reassuring Japan, while also encouraging Japan to take on more responsibility, thereby reducing the actual cost of the US. This is a calculation of interests,” Xiang said.
According to the AP, Hegseth on Saturday attended a memorial service on Iwo Jima to honor those who died in battle of Iwo Jima. He was joined by his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other officials at Saturday’s event. Hegseth’s related remarks, however, have sparked strong criticism from many netizens.
“We have not forgotten. The bravery of those who fought on Iwo Jima – American and Japanese alike – endures in history, in sacred ground, and the bonds between our nations. Their valor will never fade,” the US Department of Defense released Hegseth’s remarks on X on Saturday.
In February 1945, the US forces fought for over a month to capture the island from the Japanese. Of the 70,000 men assembled for the campaign, nearly 7,000 Marines and Sailors died, and 20,000 more were wounded, according to website of the White House.
Many netizens criticized Hegseth’s praise of the Japanese military as a desecration of the sacrificed American soldiers in the battle. Some posted photos of American POWs being tortured by Japanese soldiers, condemning the brutality of the Japanese army as unworthy of remembrance. Others said Hegseth’s “tribute” seems even more hypocritical after the recent removal of a memorial page for Ira Hayes, a Native American soldier and Iwo Jima hero, from the US Department of Defense website.
