Press Releases
Foreign Minister Kamikawa received a courtesy call by General Charles Q. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
November 10, 2023
On November 10, 2023, commencing at 4:30pm, for approximately 15 minutes, Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, received a courtesy call from General Charles Q. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, during his visit to Japan. The overview of the courtesy call is as follows.
- At the outset, Foreign Minister Kamikawa welcomed the visit of General Brown, who is well versed in the Indo-Pacific region, having served as a commander of Pacific Air Forces to Japan, and congratulated him for the assumption of his Chairmanship. She also stated that the Japan-U.S. Alliance is the cornerstone of peace, security, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and mentioned that Japan would like to further strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance.
- In response, General Brown stated that the importance of the Japan-U.S. Alliance has never been greater. He also stated that U.S. would like to strengthen cooperation with Japan under the unprecedented alignment of their strategies.
- The two sides shared serious concerns about the increasingly severe security environment in the region, including North Korea's intensified nuclear and missile activities, China's unilateral change to the status quo by force and such attempts, and the enhanced military cooperation between China and Russia in the vicinity of Japan, as well as arms transfer between Russia and North Korea. They also reaffirmed that they would continue to work closely with each other in addressing these issues. The two sides exchanged views on Japan-U.S. security and defense cooperation to strengthen the Alliance deterrence and response capabilities and concurred that they would continue coordinating to further strengthen the discussion on cooperation for Japan to possess and deploy counterstrike capabilities and achieve smoother alliance coordination.
- They also reconfirmed that it is important to gain the understanding and support of local residents to ensure the stable presence of U.S. forces in Japan, and that both sides would continue to work closely together.