Japan-US alliance upgrade: When a spoke becomes a hub

In response to the China threat, Tokyo is positioning itself as a bridge between Quad members and South-east Asia.

- William Choong

The announcements last week of an upgrade in the US-Japan alliance and the formation of a new trilateral partnership between the US, Japan and the Philippines are a significant addition to the defence networks that have marked the region since the end of World War II. They also signal a shift from the existing pattern.

Up until now, the region's defence networks have been dominated by the US-led formal "hub and spokes" alliances with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. Other countries in the region - for example, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia were linked in less formal defence partnerships with the US. For years, countries outside the US-led formal alliances saw no point in moving into more formal arrangements with the US and its allies, given concerns that this would rile China.

Last week's announcements represent a step change: Japan as a US ally would link up countries in South-east Asia, starting with the Philippines, as part of what Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida calls a "multi-layered defence network". This development is a major advance towards the broader strategic goals envisioned by the late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe: Japan taking on a bigger regional leadership role and the building of a "free and open Indo-Pacific"

 BIGGEST UPGRADE SINCE 1951

Arguably, the upgrade to the US-Japan alliance is the biggest since its formation in 1951.

The two militaries would be put under a joint operations command led by a US four-star general, thus enabling "seamless integration of operations and capabilities for greater interoperability and planning". This means the alliance set-up in Japan would more closely resemble US forces in South Korea, which serve with the Korean military as part of a joint command under a "fight tonight" ready-to-deploy posture.