According to the data from the two sources reported by Reuters, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were set to meet in Washington on April 10 to discuss their plans to tighten military cooperation.
The sources indicated that the US was considering the appointment of a four-star commander to oversee its forces in Japan alongside the head of the Japanese Self Defense Forces (SDF), as a US three-star commander in the country did not have any authority over the Japanese corps.
Meanwhile, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi stated at a regular media briefing that Japan was currently having internal talks on cooperation with the US and South Korea, while adding that the agenda for the summit between Biden and Kishida had not been decided.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wanted to set up the joint command headquarters before the end of March 2025, as concerns were raised over the growth of China’s military power, which drew close to Japan’s territory after the dispute between China and Taiwan started to heat up.
