US seeking military ties with Japan to counter China, Russia
The United States is mulling to counter strategic and economic cooperation between Russia and China by reaching more military deals with Japan, a political commentator says.
“You see steadily an increase in Japanese militarism and Japanese collaboration with the US,” Joel Kovel said in a phone interview with Press TV on Tuesday.
The United States is worried about an increasing collaboration between Russia and China, he added.
“What’s happening now is that there are [sic] certain geostrategic and economic factors between China and Russia together and the US is moving to counter it,” the analyst said.
The remarks were made after a new bilateral agreement would allow Japanese officials access to US military bases in Japan.
The two countries said in a statement on Monday that they are committed to close Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and replace it with a new base on a rural part of the island.
Meanwhile, the United States deployed a new missile radar with ultra-secret technology to detect ballistic missiles at a US military base in the city of Kyotango, on the Japanese north coast.
The US military has recently installed another radar of this kind, with high output, at the prefecture in Aomori, in Japan’s northern area.
“The US has been coming closer to Japan in several ways, one of which has been to augment the Japanese military and this is a very troubling turn of events because World War II was triggered by Japanese militarism among other factors and Japan has a very very deep records of extreme militaristic behavior, which is renounced after World War II,” Kovel noted.