June 4, 2019
On June 4, commencing from around 11:10 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo received a courtesy call from the Honorable Patrick M. Shanahan, Acting Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, during his visit to Japan. Attendees to the meeting include, from the Japan side, Mr. Iwaya Takeshi, Minister of Defense, Mr. Nishimura Yasutoshi, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Nogami Kotaro, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and others, and from the U.S. side, Mr. William Hagerty, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, and others. The overview of the meeting is as follows.
1. At the beginning, Prime Minister Abe welcomed Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan’s visit to Japan and mentioned that he and President and Mrs. Trump boarded the MSDF Destroyer JS “Kaga” together, demonstrating the strong Japan-U.S. alliance, during their visit to Japan as state guests the previous week. He also stated that he would like to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance and deepen cooperation to realize a Free and Open Indo-Pacific in the new era of Reiwa. In response, Acting Secretary Shanahan stated that the Japan-U.S. Alliance is stronger than ever thanks to Prime Minister Abe’s leadership and the efforts of the relevant ministers as a team.
2. Prime Minister Abe and Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan welcomed the steady progress of Japan-U.S. cooperation in realizing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. In this context, Prime Minister Abe welcomed the release of the Indo-Pacific Strategy Report by the U.S. Department of Defense on June 1, and both sides agreed to continue to strengthen cooperation in the region. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation for cross-domain operations, including space and cyber.
3. In addition, Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan confirmed that the United States would continue its efforts to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges by North Korea. The two sides also confirmed that they would also continue to cooperate with other partner countries to ensure the full implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions, including the one regarding illicit ship-to-ship transfers.
In addition, Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan expressed his continued support for Japan’s efforts to resolve the abductions issue.
4. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to steadily proceed with the realignment of the U.S. Forces in Japan, including the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko, from the perspective of maintaining the deterrence of the Japan-U.S. Alliance and mitigating impact on Okinawa and other local communities.
