Transcripts For CSPAN Former Military Leaders On The U.S.-Japan Alliance 20240714

Good afternoon, everyone, thank you for coming. It is friday afternoon in august delighted your Summer Vacation plans include see sis. A testament to how important, influential command our and respected our panel is. Before we get started we always do a brief safety announcement. 10 fourstar admirals and generals in the room. This former boy scout will be in charge. If there is a need to evacuate, i will let you know, but we will head out in head around the corner to National Geographic down 17th street. Back. E we have simultaneous interpretation and there should chair. Sets on your if you have any problems, just wave, and someone will come and help you. Please leave them on the chair when you are finished create if sendake them home, we will the new Defense Force Rapid Deployment force to your house to retrieve them tonight. We are here to hear from eight to officers who participated in this years u. S. Japan military statesmans form which was established by the asiapacific beijing and washington and the ireau chief 1993 to 1997 when was a graduate student at sykes and he had a great form where he would take the japanese speaking graduate students, younger military officers, Foreign Service officers and when the Prime Minister came to washington he always made them breakfast. S for he has been a great mentor and friend to many of us in this we have had today, 10 people go back and forth between his asiapacific initiative and see sis in georgetown. Thewas founded after 311 as rebuilt rebuild Japan Foundation did a seminal report of what happened with that trip local with that triple tragedy. The name because the mandate has broadened to a range of geopolitical and economic issues. Please join me in welcoming our distinguished first speaker. [applause] thank you for your generous introduction. I am led to be here. Asiapacificthe initiative foundation, i would like to express my deep ispreciation to see sis cs for hosting us. Initiativec 2011ation was founded in after the 311 tragedy. We published the report on the Fukushima Nuclear disaster. Sized theport, we Critical Role which japans health Defense Forces and u. S. In fightinge played against adversity, particularly we are very much grateful for dispatching more than 20,000 marines immediately to that disaster area. For a rescue operation. Most the most essential National Crisis over 70 years. Was the Defense Forces in the u. S. Military that saved japan. A rude awakening to us japanese. The military to , that would beue japanl for the future of and the u. S. Japan alliance. Initiatedop of why we formendeavor to launch the , that a core group of members who are and still are the generalsdmirals and from japan and the u. S. Over the past six years have expanded participationthe theexpanded to include activeduty officers and policymakers. We have been extraordinarily fortunate to have that government officials from the u. S. And japan for this years sixth form for him. For them. We have stimulate stimulating positive discussions. The members in the guest of the for him to come to. Ashington to get together has been extremely helpful from day one. Extremely instrumental to bringing about this enterprise. Without his strong endorsement, this could never have started. Also without dr. Greens continued support, it would never have grown to this extent. Once again, thank you very much and others and c si. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you. We are going to our panel discussion. Unless the questions to our distinguished visitors and will save some time to open it up to open it to your questions. There is a lot of experience people in this alliance and the audience so i look forward to that. Let me introduce the panel. To my right admiral mike mullen who serves as the board of directors for sprint and the andmberg foundation affinity. He retired in 2011 after having served as the 17th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the u. S. After 43 years of service in the u. S. Navy. Iiki,s right is general o he retired from active duty in 2012 after serving as the third chief of staff in japan which was during 311. He had to show leadership to the people anddal earned enormous respect for rising to be the most respected institution in japan in Public Opinion polls. To his right, admiral blair. He served asterisk are of National Intelligence from 2009 through 2010. He had a distinguished staff and retired after 34 years including as commanderinchief. , is now special advisor to the cabinet. He retired from active duty in 2014 after serving as the fourth chief of staff and the 31st chief of staff. General vincent brooks who currently serves on the board of directors of the Gary Sinise Foundation serving as the 15th commander of the during aforces command consequential time from 2016 through 2018 and before that was fourstar in command of u. S. Army forces. The admiral is executive advisor to the ministry of defense retiring from active duty in 2019 after serving as the fifth chief of staff for the joint staff office of 2014 through 2019 and chief of staff for the Japan Maritime selfDefense Forces. This is a very distinguished panel with a lot of experience across a whole range of security challenges that have confronted our countries. I will open by asking admiral to give us two or three top takeaways that you have from the past threeandahalf days of discussion. Thanks for your leadership and continued participation and support of this forum. With respect to the less two and half days, the number one takeaway for me has been the ability to frankly explore in breadthd in breath that have been challenging. It has been deeper and broader and much more frank discussion. Very rich in terms of the challenges and we will talk about some of those but more than anything else, there is a trust here that is very real and it happens very quickly once the is bredce starts and it out of friendships and a commitment to the japanese alliance. This is broader than just the alliance itself. It is particularly important to me not just because of my longstanding relationship with hadn but at 311, while i known the general who is my counterpart when i was chairman, we went through, he led in that crisis like very few leaders i have seen globally over the course of my career. So to be cared with him again in this kind of form was very special. Breadth and the depth is the first thing. I try to follow things you strategically but i had no idea that the relationship between japan and korea had deteriorated so badly and we are at a real low. We could argue about whether it youn alltime low and when incorporate the overall geostrategic criticality of that thisof the world, particular challenge which is opensw, this challenge the door for china to drive right through it. That is what is going on right now to the detriment of south korea, the detriment of japan, the detriment of the alliances, and to the detriment of the region. I was very struck i that. We had some very healthy discussions with respect to it. Clearo include representation on the japanese now, we are at what i would call korea fatigue. We cannot let korea fatigue and all that is associated with that stop us from the point of achieving a solution here pretty quickly. As was pointed out earlier today, this has seen the Political Support for those leaders go up which is an incentive not to solve it and longerterm, the dangers are pretty significant. Came loud and clear. One of the points that was made is korea needs that time right now to be able to work through this and from my standpoint, japan needs to give them the , ite without overreacting has moved to the emotional phase in which we are operating in that phase, it is not likely anything good is going to come out of that. I hope that korea and the japanese leadership can actually pause, get to the point where they can pick up meaningful, constructive negotiations and resolve this as rapidly as possible and i am sure you will hear more about korea. The third thing and i am sure someone will talk about china, the third take away china. That all about china in region. In many ways to include our relationship and what is going on there. This is more of an operational war fighting focus. We have met many years, we have talked about figuring out how to and exercise together which generates a much stronger deterrence against the outbreak of conflict but it puts you at a much better position if conflict should break out. That is very real. My take away from this week was there needs to be a sense of plan andn how we exercise together, not just japan and the u. S. But also our dolition partners and to that pretty quickly. We are challenged as we always in this potential warfare and with information sharing, that is built on trust. We talk routinely about these gray zone wars, cyber and Electronic Warfare, what is going on in space and we had Pretty Healthy discussions about that. Complicatedcredibly domains and we have got to get planningo have more and exercising in these domains to understand how we are going to operate together. My experience is if you have done none of that, conflict breaks out, it gets very bad before it gets better. You can mitigate a lot of that with practice ahead of time. That puts a lot of pressure in the region on china which is exactly what we need to do. Those are the three things. Thank you. I would like to speak to you in japanese today. And very grateful there are many participants here today. Regarding what we are trying to carry out, i believe that admiral mullen had covered them comprehensively. Theres not much i need to add. However, when i was still on active duty with admiral mullen, i had [inaudible] to work with him very much and as was mentioned at the time of three letters when we atountered a major disaster the top of the u. S. Military and admiral mullen had provided us with strong support and we have been able to develop a personal trust relationship which i personally believe is extremely strong. Say thatwe can relationship during active duty and when we are retired are somewhat different. Out the same mission in the same environment, but once you are retired, i believe that maybe you will have different view and perception and it does me good with the use of the [indiscernible] interestrther the relationship that we had and build on it. I had participated in [indiscernible] and i have been able to feel that. Mullen know how admiral feels but i have told trust in him. If you look at the South China Sea or activities of the chinese army, from the military perspective, i think we can. Hare more even now not necessarily just sharing information but i think we can perceive and recognize the information and i believe that this forum has given us the opportunity to be able to share that kind of perception even before the information. , as i participate from f, we. S. Side and the sd have more active members participating. Started that we will have this forum between the retired officers and we will talk about the Government Policies as well as what the japanese [indiscernible] can cooperate and we want to provide the bridge between these people. That was the original objective, and i believe we have been able to accomplish that. Earlier, there was some reference to japans korea relationship. Although i will not be talking about the relationship with south korea, this from three general johnhave participate in this forum. We can sense as well have the objective exchange of views. U. S. Rok,japan although we have part more participations from r. O. K. Also takeaustralian part in our meeting. Although it started, u. S. And japan, we have korea, south korea and australia and there are [indiscernible] this forum. Maybe the original intention and objective may have changed but as the situation and environment changes extremely fast, i believe we are now meeting the needs of the times and i believe that that results in an extremely important result. So that is my view. Thank you. Blair. Me turn to admiral you get the hard question. The militarization of these artificial islands in the South China Sea, the unifying of side,d on the chinese increasing operational tempo in the East China Sea, not only operating in the first island chain is a problem. Some people say we have lost the South China Sea and we are losing the East China Sea. Starting with you, how would you characterize it . No, that is wrong. Thank you. [laughter] let me go a little beyond that. Haverful to wonderful to have her here. And a couplehaired of conclusions that we reached back then are still very important. The only country that could contain chinas china and our policy at that time was china [inaudible] since itted ever opened to the world. China is in the process of containing itself. Aggressionking such aggressive action. The countries outside nonetheless had interest and they are banding together to opposed this very aggressive chinese posture from the military quantity of some of the so a fewpoint of view, small islands in the southern part of the South China Sea are really inconsequential compared , athe strategic level unified concern about china and banding together in order to offset and contain this offense of our china, so i think china is causing a reaction which it will regret. In my experience, the chinese are very practical and its something they are not trying is not something its something theyre trying is not, they will try something else. There are those who think the more we demand, we will get a point where all the other countries will say we will just do whatever you want. Are allies and partners and support them, we will show china it is a losing strategy and it was working and tried toime make changes in it peaceful in a nonbullying matter and ash manner and we will get back to that. On a specific issue in the South China Sea, there is far more military activity by other countries, the United States, japan, australia, japan than it was a while ago. Why . Because china has raised its. Empo in the East China Sea japan is building whole classes forming threaded pin is new types of military operations. Fact, at the tactical military advantage they have gained no advantage. That is why my answer was no. Thank you. Much. Nk you very [inaudible]e so i sort of forgot the question. , we needng about china to fully understand what kind of country china is there it many times, the Chinese People say we had a history of 4000 years and Chinese People are the type of people who look at things with a very longterm view. In 2008 the was in 2008 thatresent and the navyina the chinese navy will not be able to control the eastern side of hawaii and i will have to ask you to take care of us. Therefore, dont worry and i he did not know what the chinese was talking about. He was talking about an admiral from the chinese navy. Up with0s, they came back andtorial waters this is the mystic, not much difference outside of china, but there was the first line him as well as the second line island chain. The first one, i think they were thinking about 2010 and there were going to control each side of the first island chain by china. Status ofook at the 1990, e think you could go outside, but they were saying they willn 20 years be in control of the first island chain. Chinas navy is very confident about in the future they will be taking control in this area. At that time, we did not believe the chinese officer at all, but madeat 2010, china has passes to what is inside and year, they passed the near yourin to come jima island. With behaviors like this, we would think midterm to longterm. It is about 50 years to 100 a longnd so china has gain in the mind, so when we think about china, we need to remind them about that and when we think about the chinese little system, we are a democratic country, but when china thinks about their armed forces in japan, we have to negotiate our budgetary needs plans. Ear and we made they will execute the policy and we have to take two to three years to implement an actual idea that came out, but when you , it willut xi jinping happen the next day, so that is the situation in china. Behaviorok at chinas should i stop . [laughter] china is really good at where our power vacuum is. That maybe political and they can find those vacuum points so this happensnd and in the East China Sea and the typical one is the South China Sea. Without the knowledge, china has recommendation and also untie air at such and such so they have been able to take part of the ocean. About and alsok be able to handle that. Walter green talked about this question. Agree. Er, i completely my answer is no. China, even though china has , we provideproach 20 47 patrol to protect all , so we have a similar patrolity in terms of ship and we have been using our to protect these manyds and we have seen and sons or approaches ships to bef constant presence, but japan is not backing down at all because we provide continuous patrol around this area. In terms of the South China Sea, andespect it country chinas occupation is illegal, these are nothink belong to china at all. Lets turn to korea and the general about that. Negotiated andy r. O. K. Theance as it ended, if yuan forces had not been able to operate, i think south korea may not be free today. It reinforces do not hold the line, japan would be much less prosperous. The alliance is intermingled, but it is congregated. Me atl tongue reminded the time that if japanese troops landed peninsula to help, he will order it helped them. It is too deeply independent alliances. Ask generalg to brooks to solve this problem because the admiral will solve it. Not aa political problem, military problem in the sense you tell me. Consequence when ource forces are not able to operate, train, exercise between these two alliances . Thank you for the privilege of being able to join patriots here who have done for mens work for each of our countries for this cornerstone alliance. It is a tremendous privilege. The whole week has been like that, so it has been wonderful. Becomes issues often geopolitical and sometimes they can make the situation worse or sometimes they can make the situation better. To be been my experience able to see and witness and counter these two critical ways, we and in many watch the political ties ebb and continuousnd what is is the military relationship and so while these are two distinct , the u. S. And Japan Alliance and the u. S. And korean alliance, there is or nation and cooperation to the extent that politics will allow among all three. It is not a triad alliance. That is not the case. All they would be military efficient,ilitarily it would not be politically. We see the Current Situation with the relationship is bad and i cant describe it any other way. Bad and maybe getting worse. Risk. S several things at first, military to medications ongoing will have to stop or slow down, leaving a lack of coordination on very Important Information like did you know there are chinese aircraft flying into the air Defense Identification Zone that both countries share . Did you know that we are reacting to it now or are you reacting to it now . Very simple things we take granted pretty did you know had aircraft emergency and International Aviation communications that occur, but there may be recovery set occur as well and we will find a military element might be the first to respond in that area. How do you share that information if you cant talk . Am not talking about from technical means, im talking from a social and legal means. [inaudible] which ispin alliance the United States and republic of korea when they can cooperate. Week. That just last the russians in a coordinated effort with the chinese decided to demonstrate they have the ability to Fly International airspace and fly within 12 not miles of eight point on the services of the water that is a point of friction between south korea and japan. In other words, russia deliberately exploited the friction between those two countries. There are significant consequences militarily and geopolitically. It is not something that will happen quickly or easily. This is a very deep problem and it requires United States to understand the nature of that problem and assist both countries and working through the painful recollections of this problem that is still not theletely resolved and great disappointment that happens on both sides. Thatnt to make sure military leaders can keep a conversation going and we dont like the agreement that is up for renewal between japan and the republic of korea. Why it is so important not to destroy the channel even if you limit information being shared. It is unwise to destroy the channel of communication. I certainly hope that will not happen and we will not see destruction of that channel of communications. Thank you. Regarding japan and south similarelations are which is a very tough situation. Think the forces have been having a very good relation and the defense chief is now in he was the chairman of the jcs in korea and when i activeduty officer, i spoke very much about our situation and we remain credible and trustworthy friends. However, the relationship , there was aorces very unfortunate situation that happened last year from my perspective. Invited to attend a review. To take we were asked down our flag to bring our ship to south korea. , ourrobably know this flags are our pride, so we wanted to show our pride by flying the flag when it comes to r. O. K. , so i think this is a very come since rule that we expect of each other, so our conclusion was that we should reject to attend a chose toreview, but we stay in japan because we wanted theaintain was left between relationship between r. O. K. And japan. Therei have to mention was a radar lock on incident. Based on that incident, japan to maked south korea the investigation and all the make corrective action so this will not repeat. The reactions happening from r. O. K. Are beyond our togination and we are hoping heolve this issue, so stopped having it at this incident. This is a very unfortunate situation. Remember andtill also know that collaboration between United States, r. O. K. And japan is the goal. Yes, we understand the situation is very tough, but this should be the guidance for us to move forward, but i think there are some disruptive incidents or disruptive awaynications to move us from the what needs to be talked about and also resolved, so i forward by what is happening right now. Thank you. I would like to put in a committed point on this issue. Of technical field , geopolitical operational occupied aand japan lot. It, a lot brooks put of people feel that way and dont know what the solution is, but the consequences are pretty important. Operation, soined we had a army and navy team. Hadll ask the admiral, you operational control in the question is about the selfDefense Forces. But they said, the most respected position in japan, one of the Biggest Challenges is people getting enough people and order to fullyn staffed the Defense Forces, japan will have to have the level of women participating in the military, for example the u. S. And australia have. In japan, i think 6 . Im asking in part because it is rare. In fact, we have we never have panels that are all men anymore. Im sure i will get a lot a for that and im sure we will have come in representation in the u. S. And japan at Senior Leadership from women. Gets a question, how to. Ore women promoted, engaged you must have thought about that as a security what are your views as chairman yourself. What are your views . First of all, there is a declining population because of the low birthrate and the appropriate age people to recruit is rather difficult, very difficult. You look at the security environment surrounded japan, we defense capability. We do need to provide the defense capability and that cannot be supported by mail alone. In the future, we do need to have womens ability and womens capability included in the future. About the women participation. When i was still an activeduty, our aim was 10 . I believe we are moving and taking measures so we can increase it to 10 . They recently, there was some area that was closed to women which was submarines, now it is open for women to take part. We do have women hired. At present the area that women cannot participate is the special forces which requires very severe environment fighting order foreality, in men to work in a sense of security, we need to have nurseries, provide some kind of facilities which would be. Equired uniquely to women unless we can ride those services, i think women will witha very hard time responsibilities, therefore we would like to continue to increase the percentage for women participation. Factor tomportant provide capabilities in the science. Im going to turn to admiral blair because in the u. S. Budgets are limited, Chinese Military buildup is unlike anything we have seen in recent memory. Theres a debate among the whether it should be or how much should be high and war fighting and how much can we [inaudible] what is your take on the proper capabilities and he makes the ability tod prevail . Toi think we must be able walk and chew gum at the same time in the western pacific. You cand a lot about say, deterring china or making china where they put they should pursue their National Objectives by nonviolent methods and that requires not only a certain number of the very best in the marines and air force station, but also disabilities in space and cyber warfare. Make it clear that military aggression goes too far, it will be stopped, but that is not the only thing that is important in the pacific. Items. Re several number one, the Cooperation Among the armed forces on net disasters i think is very important natural disasters is very important i think. Of the tragedy in 2003, 2004 when the tsunami thestated to the east and response of oteri forces was really decisive at saving many lives and the immediate aftermath was a tremendous operation of many countries that did that and i think it is the responsibility of the armed forces and the countries of the region. Capability from among the countries in asia is also important. Think it had a very decisive outcomebringing a happy and for the people of indonesia. An import an activity for an activity that should include china and finally, i would say even in this competition with china, the terms greystone tactics, this operation is below military conflict level and is something the other countries of the alternativesresent and must compete with china in doing so. Involvementican must be across the scale of capability of the armed forces and isaac it can be with smart and resources that can be provided. Atwe can walk and chew gum the same time, but we will still need more gum. Go now to a joint Navy Task Force and i want to ask if you could say a bit more about the issues between the u. S. And japan, particular the u. S. And sockets on. I worked years ago when the defense guidelines were revised and a lot we could do joint planning and we hit a wall. Abbe hase minister opened up that issue. Joint planningr and joint operations, and for you admiral, a new defense plan and the sizes cross domain cyberspace. What are your thoughts on where we need to prioritize and focus on those areas . This is a very difficult area. Duty,was still on active we have received orders from the weme minister, could exercise the collective defense constitutionsent and the individual of selfdefense was something that we could exercise . However, as we think further, maybe part of the collective selfdefense could be exercised ago, we havers introduced the peaceful security something weis could do under the present constitution. Compared to the overall collective selfdefense, part of the overall collective selfdefense, but now we can self collective selfdefense. If we utilize the present situation, to what extent could we exercise. Whatple, they may be kind of corporation can we have regarding space . What can we to together what can we do together . Individual cases must be considered to see what extent selfDefense Forces could be will have tothose be made on individual cases. The use of selfDefense Force will change from what it used to be in the past. The many years that i have operated with an strategically been with the selfDefense Force, i have been impressed with the capability. History for collective defense and those operations actually went pretty , theand in particular maritime operations. That is a significant part of the challenge just because of the laydown itself. Im actually hopeful that if we could both collectively plan and exercise and im specifically i permit jointed a permanent joint and combined task force in the region which we could use regularly to test these things and interoperability is always challenging matter when you start and bringing that out early, it takes time and a lot of effort to do that and you cant theoretically give it. You have to practice regularly. Profession professionalism inside is extraordinary, so i think we can. Olve that relatively quickly when you specifically asked about the gray zone pieces, we Start Talking about the Electronic Warfare pieces as well. In terms of operating together, they are very new. The thing that drives that is the speed. You dont have a lot of time to adjust. There is a serious issue of thense and offense and japanese constitution will not allow offensive operations. We in the u. S. Have very recently, i think with this in ministration got the point where we are much more open about either using it or certainly planning to use offense of operations which i think we need to do. We have given the russians and the chinese and the north koreans far too much runway in the cyber wall and they need to be pushed back. I think we know what we need, but we will just have to practice together. Constitutionalhe requirements and japan with respect to Something Like cyber, i think what americans need to think about is the history in this country with an understanding of evolution over the last 70 years. To make sure we have an understanding of that as we look to how much you can actually get done, how much thats how quickly we can move in that creates an additional complexity that if we consider that, there is likely to be a much more rapid solution to very challenging problems. I talked about information sharing. We have network before. Etwork before it is a question of now, can we give them the threat. It is growing and it is not just the two or three of us. There are others in the cant do that on paper. You have to actually practice it and i think that is what we will do. When you mentioned a Standing Joint task force, and you mentioned bigger . Is this needs to be joint combined. Certainly, there is a bilateral peace as well. We have been in too many 90s orns since the that becomes a mandate and critical to success. All these things in the end have to and politically and the Political Capital that a country puts into a coalition with his forces is considerable and without that, while some believe you dont have the political resolve to achieve what you are iting to achieve, so i think is much more in the long run it is much more beyond just the bilateral relationship between us and japan. This is a very purple stage. They have had some of the most havetant join jobs you can. The role of Ground Forces and also shaping the army. One of you start us off. How do we think about Ground Forces in the u. S. And japan . That is a focus of my attention as commander. The space is more concentrated in the middle east, but cars a joint approach. I found that to be the case certainly as well in the pacific if not more so and how does highlight a couple reasons why it is important. That is a decided advantage for the u. S. And its allies to operate in a joint context. That may change over time and we find potential adversaries like the Peoples Liberation army are pursuing joint miss in their own way. We need to do it because that is how we operate. Secondly, when we think about interdependencies of their capabilities, we would be full is to go with anyone of them, so whether it is recognizing the chains, the part thehe pacific is the all of. Rchipelagos there are pieces of ground separated by water. We are talking about populations here and also find it on the landmass, many countries dominated militarily by their having a relationship with those leaders is critically important. We want to think about a longerterm relationship that creates stability in the region. Forces are very important and that is but the u. S. And japanese and others in the region as well. Emergence ofe an some adaptations. The concept is really about land forces being able to have an impact on the domains that would normally be dominated by other services, so when forces can impact air, sea, space. If they are positioned the right places and integrated in a joint concept by whatever commander , they have to be integrated in. Or air Defense Systems electronic work capabilities, all of these things are dependent upon connection to land forces so it might as well we did better in exercises thinking that way. Operationsnable the of a commander or air component to it how could we use the capabilities of space and protect them at the same time collectively question we see these now in the National Strategy for the end of pacific endopacfic. So recognition this is a requirement calls for a much closer integration. Let me make one last comment. , buteither from the navy from the first class that included women at the u. S. Military academy and youll be glad you did it when you make the change. Dont fight it, take advantage of it, it will make you much better. I look forward to seeing the future highly improved. Thank you. I like to continue on. When you say army and marine, they receive less spotlight than the other armed forces, but i say most of the hardworking people are the armies because they have very difficult missions. They have to face other soldiers facetoface. I have to say from the ground, we take so much and are prepared for so much. When we look at this security also air, sea, ground, we are now including cyber and space. Ai, thoseok at 5g and are adding more complex aspects to what security means. That means we cannot just conclude our mission within the our missions within the limits. We also we always have to forces,e to have joined so we can have the most effective fighting strategies. Think this is what joint operations and joint planning means to us. What is the heartland is joint work . We have to think about command and control. This is what it means to us and from control, we have to spread groups units and smaller so that we can work on their , so in this era, all the aspects are interdependent and at the same time, defense admirals, we should think about from the system and also what type of concept we should have for our joint capabilities. Not only japan and the united and also a fan included. Region,hink about this three pillarshas such as navigation and prosperity in terms of economic aspect. The indian ocean is connected to the middle east, so we are not just talking about the Economic Activities in the asia region, but looking at the global scale and also be stability and prosperity. We should contribute to the global prosperity in so many different ways, including navigation and the economy and security. Ist we have been working on working together with southeast have countries that engineers and Health Care Professionals so that countries can learn and also grow their expertise. We are not dispersing butle for a short time, assimilating them. The u. S. Japan alliance is the core of the for example australia, the philippines should be included and also, we multilateralt the cooperations surrounding us, so this is the stability and also securing peace in the region. Year, we formed special activities. We sent for units into india for training, so this is a very encouraging sign that we have to communicate with those Southeast Asian countries. Also, the relationship with the u. S. Army. We have done some joint exercises. I was asked to give a keynote speech in tokyo. , the data disaster thise Disaster Recovery keynote speech was held by a huge think tank and our organization in japan. And manytries came ngos came here came here to hear my speech. Those and the Disaster Recovery are interested by so many different organizations and so i would like to see the United States and also japan leverage that because there is a sense of mission already growing. Ask the mic if i could make a comment about our army. It is not a natural question to it was a few years ago when i was running our navy that i publicly made a speech. This was the middle of the war in iraq. I was completely convinced. This goes for the locality of armies locally and the upside ,nd downside of Army Presence but i made a speech saying that contrary to my training as a young naval officer, particularly the budget world, our armyalized is that in the United States was the center of gravity for our military. I believe it then, i believe it now. Also, and this is just an antidote about how people around the world feel about armies. When we had that tragic andhquake in haiti everybody was moving as many forces as possible to try to help, we sent a brigade down to haiti to help and i visited them a few days later and my interaction with the haitian people, i was stunned at the numbers. Were going to invade them or had invaded them and it was a very serious concern and discussion. Concernnot relieve that until all the 82nd airborne shoulders soldiers were off the island. That was his message that was a message to me about the upside and downside and the fears and raised again,they for both good and for concern. Lastly, in this world that we romans, unmanned capabilities, the kind of ,recision and lethality we see combat, when we are in one of the things and this is not a perfect solution, one of the things i learned is i need people on the ground. I really want to have a level of knowledge about instruction that particular in world that is precise and legal as these weapons are. Theres oftentimes collateral damage. I value back to what i said earlier about my army being the to read igravity value that more than i ever thought i would and they bring extraordinary capability. However you would distribute have,whatever impact to we cannot do this even in a theater that is often characterized as a navy and air force. Thank you. If i were to try to rapper riven ribbon around what we were discussing, it would be the army. Nestseme would be joint joint next jointness. Talking about it because it is rapidly increasing. North korea is expanding its nuclear arsenal. Up the same as the chinese. That is why the relationship with korea matters. As an observer and participant, looking at the problems, increase in defense spending, the answer is improving the ability to Work Together, especially in japan and partners elsewhere. Lets take questions from the audience. If you could identify yourself pick someone, i will toss it and you can weigh in. Lets get way in the back there. Thank you very much. I am the president of the peace foundation. My question with regard to korea, japan relationship, particularly to a possible role that the United States can play. To question is addressed admiral mullen and admiral blair. I think most people in japan ee that korea carbon koreajapan [inaudible] as the admiral said, there is a fun gap between the two countries and number three, if you dont do anything, the country will take advantage of it. It looks like korea and japan have demonstrated. Did you discuss any possible role to better the relationship between korea and japan . Japanese have been frustrated to an extent. They have been asking americans. Or some time to play a role the situation has come to a point that we witnessed today, so is there any role that the United States can play. Of discuss the possibility any mediation role . Thank you very much. Fundamentally, this is a situation that koreans and japanese have to resolve. Incredibly strong relationship with both countries, so i have obviously not been involved, but im come comfortabley enough to say that this is not out there by itself, but we are iying attention to it and think we all recognize how serious this is an the direction that it is heading is very dangerous. End, i think probably, and im not on the inside, i would work very hard to support the solution that independently, the koreans and japanese need to figure out and is there ways to do that . With how muched there is, but there are certainly activity that we are aware of, so it is not out there by itself. We discussed some of the principles that should guide participation or the american role in trying to [indiscernible] our closest allies. One should distinguish between what should be done publicly and what should be done privately. The issues between korea and historical amigh, a political social context and outside country comments describe that those areas our peril and i dont think we should. On a private basis, i think the United States should provide a sense of urgency for working on the problem and in many cases, a venue and sympathetic thirdparty to help solutions be achieved both countries as far as our public role, the sense of the importance issued to the United States should be talked about publicly and we should emphasize it. Or the othertry affects theion that longterm repair of relations between the countries, i think we should call it out. I agree completely with general brooks that eliminating existing channels of military information japan and korea is a big mistake. Were probably against that. We dont think korea should terminate that agreement. Principles that we discussed and that is the role i think the United States can play. Finally, i would say there is an overall feeling among us americans who have service and friendships with koreans and japanese that this thing is not going to lead to violence. That the threech freemarket democracies in the most important part of the world share for that not to eventually over time overcome these difficult problems. Let me express my view. If the u. S. Was to try to intermediate between japan and korea it make temporarily may improve the situation but i think that will not resolve the issue from the root. Heard from the admiral was the u. S. Has a role to play but it is not to broker this which ultimately will have to be done by japan and korea. Surveyew years we hundreds of foreignpolicy experts in asia about their vision for the future of the region area. 10 countries. The countries that are most closely aligned almost indistinguishable about what indo pacific they want, the two countries where the experts are most closely aligned is japan and korea. Even more so than australia. Although that may say more about australia then the austrian people. It is remarkable, almost identical late responses with japan and korea and the role with the United States and the Democratic Values and the economy fit want to see and institutions they want to see. Almost identical. But where they would like this region to go and the role of the u. S. Underlying set of values but also interests that hopefully will get us past this. Lets keep going. We can always count on you to ask a question that makes me glad im not in government. I want to ask a question about President Trump. Strengtheningrump or weakening the u. S. Japan alliance . To ask aboutwant inf or run or something easy . [laughter] that an earful. Anyone can go for it. Ill take a crack at it. Anotherk we heard from of administration officials. By was thestruck continuity of policy in terms of lots of things going on. Specifically, our National Security strategy, our National Defense strategy. The guidelines that just came out of japan recently area those documents playing off of each other and i think that has strengthened the relationship area to put us in a position to strengthen the relationship. Back even before what i said earlier in terms of generally continuity not perfect continuity from one administration to another but the values of the relationship. I think publicly there probably has not in a leader in the world that has worked harder on a relationship with our president then shinzo abe. Two Great Success for the alliance specifically. Then for the region. Because of the criticality of that alliance. It is almost easier now to criticize because the vulnerabilities that have always been there, china being one. With respect to the relations between south korea and japan and whats going on in north korea, a lot of it is more public than it has ever been. It is easier to see. Back by them taken continued strength of the alliance in an evolving time. It certainly is as strong or stronger or getting stronger over time. Withdrawing from tpp i think was a very big mistake. One that we are scrambling to recover from. I think admiral mullen collectively correctly characterized the aspects of that. The one big goal was a mistake. By this administration. There are a lot of ranchers and farmers that would agree with you. [laughter] regarding the security treaty, im not sure tehran knows the details of the treaty but in summary, if japan is attacked the United States comes to the rescue. Offers, in return japan these military facilities to the United States so this is balanced. Down, it isled it still fairly imbalanced. Opinion, this operation domain should be reviewed so that the balance should be more equal. So that peace legislations was so that we can give support to protect the United States ships and also aircraft in peacetime. Aboutresident trump said the u. S. Japan alliance is that he was ray shot to point that out so i received that message personally. Except that he was wrong about sony televisions. [laughter]. Thank you for coming area i am a japan native u. S. Citizen. I heard through the grapevine that japans military budget is 1 of gdp. I feel that the military hands are tied in the back for some reason area. That is the way i feel anyway. How do you feel about that increasing maybe up to 2 of gdp . [laughter] everyone is looking at me so now i have to answer. The 1 that you mentioned, it is not legally bound. Just a political trend. Also we have to think about the so even thoughdp it may be remaining as the 1 , the gdp insult has been growing. The gdp itself has been grown. We may not be able to achieve 1. 3 so we probably have and also it depends on what kind of calculations you are using. I do understand your point so japan renews its Missile Defense Buildup Program and with that, we now have included different types of activities or new activities. We should not think about what percentage point we should employ in terms of the Defense Budget but we should think about capacities and what we should do as defense. That is my understanding. We can just throw out some 2 doesnt really give us any justification. That this comes from President Trumps comments to nato that every country should contribute to percent of their own gdp. This doesnt give us justification to have that kind of discussion. Achieve 2 d like to over 10 years, that means we should increase the actual year toy 7 or 8 every achieve 2 of gdp. When i look at the actual economic status of japan increasing japans Defense Budget by 7 or 8 every year is very difficult. We should not just look at 1 of japanese gdp but we should look at what we truly need to do and defense. Why i was trying to explain that to the Treasury Ministry in japan. [laughter] be careful what you wish for. I like the way that admiral mullens, this is how a task force works area and he immediately designated him and jumped right in. Thats the right vision for an alliance. I think one of the important , we have to be careful about random numbers. These are not new numbers. We have been trying to get our members to commit to a 2 of baseline. That is the objective to get everyone spending to that amount but there is a deeper underlying question. That is, what is a reasonable amount of support to u. S. Forces and what is a reasonable amount of commitment to selfdefense through every aspect of that . We still have a lot of work to do globally especially beginning with the alliances to understand what that means. We had a discussion about that during the forum this week. Ill be counting everything properly . Are we counting everything that is being done in access, tariffs, trade, are we really including it all in a way that is conference of enough to be able to see what the true level of effort is . I would submit to you that having carry this message around the world to a number of militaries for a number of years, we dont include everything that should be included area did we have a lot of work to do to refine our understanding of what that fair load is. In some cases, witness things that have been beneficial to the United States area did we just walk right past them. We are looking for a specific thing which is a percent of spending and that is not adequate. We should be much more insightful in this part of the century and beyond and refresh the Alliance Structures that are so important to stability and prosperity in the world. That sounds like a good mission for National Security. I am a former diplomat. We mentioned radar. Equally or perhaps more important is tracking whats coming out of south korea or north korea. It goes along the course coast of korea onto japan. I want to be sure that capability is bulletproof. Politicalount of exigencies are going to disturb that. That it is permanent infrastructure. Us that that kind of tactical effort is in fact sacred . No, were not going to answer that in tactical detail. The United States and the other countries that we operate with can handle the embassy domain. I can tell you its good but im not going to in a detailed with you. That domain is one of our real advantages going forward. Complex and difficult part of the Navy Operating space in which equipment is a part of the equation. Is not asuipment advanced as what the other countries have but more than that, it is the long years of practice and training that go into that. It is not subjected to political whims. What is what i said earlier. This week what i have seen hearing from this administration been knowing about administrations before, all of that continues to be in place and i would argue mostly undisturbed. In politics, if you cant see it, it doesnt exist. I am a reporter. I have a question for our japanese friends. Japan once to acquire a new fighter jet. I was wondering what you think japan should prioritize and capabilities for this new how you and perhaps think the acquisition should be procured . Thank you. [laughter] this is a question that i really wanted to avoid. [laughter] when we think about the Fighter Aircraft in japan, we do not have a large fleet at all. When i count the number of aircraft that means less than 400. Receive is that we protecting the air off of china, can be threatening also we have to protect our territory to counter them. We think about the threats in the Current Situation, we have to expand our capacity thats for sure. I think that it is more effective to have one type of aircraft rather than various types of aircraft for costbenefit and also efficiency. Aircraft,one type of and we have an issue because if that type of aircraft has an issue with wings then we have to ground all of the aircraft of the same type. Well me have a scramble situation, we have to be able to mobilize our aircraft as well area did i think that we should not rely on just one type of aircraft that maybe we have to have various types maybe three types of aircraft. If we acquire different types of aircraft, we would not have the expertise to operate them efficiently so we should seek Technical Support as well. That is why we have decided we will maintain to work three types of aircraft in the future as well area did. Two typesabout of aircraft. Fx in the past. 1987. N is based onthis f16. Redesigned for the advanced type. About fighter jets, we used to have the criteria or categories as f i and fs. Fs means fighter support and i means interception. S mean support. Have f1 by mitsubishi. Be retired. G to japan is planning to update the design of f16 and also produce them in japan. This is agreed upon between japan and the United States. There mayward a 2030, be some types of aircraft that but we just started our we knew to design of f16 and that will take about 10 years to complete that program so we have been working together with the United States to complete that. Last year, we renewed our National Defense Program Guidelines and also midterm Defense Program within the for our next fs, japan, should take the primary role to produce and maintain those aircraft. Because we would be able to customize those aircraft for our unique the needs. I. J is produced by mh now it is called space jet. It produces a space jet mystically. There are some misunderstanding that these are produced internationally but it is domestically produced. Mh i has worked with 18 companies to produce these. Some parts of for example wings were technically supported by other companies. What we are trying to do right of is how and what kind aircraft we can design and also produce so that japan can take the primary role in this. At the detailed level, i cannot share more than this. Does this answer your question . The Fighter Aircraft is only one example. Systems integration with each new generation of a platform gets almost exponentially more difficult so that joint strike fighter. To do someot afford of these alone anymore. U. S. Korean alliance or in nato, we have something close to a joint requirements dialogue. We think about those requirements and a more innovative way then the u. S. Japan alliance. Is there room for us to think more jointly about requirements and we do now between the u. S. And japan . Recognizing that we will not have a process like nato necessarily. As we are working through exercises, we can see that first there would have to be an integration that connects the japan air selfDefense Force and to aircraft the full fleet the ground selfDefense Force. If japan is to secure within its own archipelago to defend japan or respond to a crisis within the archipelago, greater Situational Awareness is important and many of these new generation aircraft and Weapons Systems have these capabilities built in. Are they built to connect to another domain . We see that as a very important part of the design. Im confident japan will take that on as they think through their own approaches. When you get to the alliance part, there is an added complexity. Its hard enough finding ways to move it from one domain to waited they are operating with the best knowledge and understanding. What exactly can be shared . What protocols, what technical mechanisms make it possible for this awareness to be moved from one country database into another . For Immediate Use without latency which is the expectation in modern warfare and modern Response Operations area did i would say it applies to both of those. Have you do that . How do you have that conversation . This is what these relationships are about within an alliance. We need to have hard conversations about our ability to Work Together and oddly enough, we have limitations even on longstanding alliances. Nato as well as the u. S. Korea alliance and that applies in the u. S. Japan alliance as well as he and we have ways to work through that. I decided to introduce f35. F35. Roduce the a type of that compared to the history of the fighters especially by the f14, f15, at , they were third and fourth generation. There was also a continued i do not think that is a generation five which is a continuation of the other area did f35 is different. Creatingre going to be is going to be something that is beyond the concept of fighters that we used to have. Required that we andave a defense concept how we selfDefense Forces will fight is indicated in the concept. Own and weht on our work to involve interoperability. We need to be able to cover and overcome all of these concepts and needs. Makever way you want to this fighter, if we cannot combined with the u. S. Or we cannot Work Together with the air, sea, etc. , then that would not be sufficient. We need to have a fighter which all ofe able to enable those joint capabilities. A couple of things to do before we wrap up. Go ahead. Thank you. I just wanted to take a very blunt approach in my question. I am very thankful that there is dialogue between japan and the u. S. But my question is, when china is still bullying countries in south east asia, my question is about leveraging inside the role of japan in taking a Regional Military leadership role in the region. China is stillw, staunchly defending its nine meter defense and no countries can come near. That before china gives a signal, they will give like a 24 to 48 hours alert to japan. Mike japan is also the second largest trade partner of china. Honestly how can you leverage your insider role in the region with this countries being bullied by china and develop into a regional leader and military leaders in that region promoting the use interest democracy and western values and all of that . You are thinking even more broadly. Does anyone want to respond on how japan complain more of a leadership role in Southeast Asia . Number one, a couple of things i need to correct. Line encompasses the entire South China Sea and all countries operate in there. It china does not successfully exclude countries. United states and seville and dust civilian military ships and so does japan and others. Many are challenged by china and china bullies filipino fishermen. That is an area as big as the mediterranean. And countries do theyre not winning. More and more countries are putting more and more ships out there. Your basic point i think is correct is that the way to handle this unilateral chinese approach is with a combined coordinated effort of those other countries and that should be free and open international space. That they need to Work Together to a sort assert that right. The balance between outside countries like the u. S. And japan and the inside countries like philippines and malaysia it is a delicate balance. United states and japan are trading that balance pretty well by helping build capacity and resilience within the countries increasingreas like maritime awareness and understanding what is going on. Increasing coast guard capabilities there. Ownwhile, sending their navy ships and coast guard ships and aircraft into the area. China is encountering large push back to these claims which you correctly cite. They claim the entire area within the line which encompasses the whole South China Sea. What were seeing now is a very strong pushback with a lot of individual activity by outside seafaring countries support for the countries in the region and Cooperation Among them. A movie that is going on and the ending of it will be favorable overtime to the United States and japan and the countries in the region who dont want to be bullied by china. More work is required. Japan is a free nation. Theeed to protect defend freedom. Japan is a country surrounded by the ocean and the value for japan is to protect the freedom of the sea. I believe that is a value that is common with that of the United States. And inSouth China Sea indian ocean, we are not intending to take an initiative on our own. Easter, in the south and wena sea and indian ocean will enhance the presence of our naval capabilities in order to sort of deter china. This is something that we have not seen in the past. I think we will continue to do that in the years to come. Countries such as vietnam and india and sri lanka, these will be the countries that we both we hope thetion china will come close to the values that we hold in these area. I have to end it with a few things. Theiring our panel with over 250 years of service. Thats combined a service up here. We thank the translators who have been doing an excellent job all day. [applause] campaign 2020 coverage with acting white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney speaking at the annual republican gala in south carolina. Cspan2,. M. On Christopher Ford on with the u. S. Can work toward eliminating weapons of mass destruction in the middle east. It 8 00 eastern on cspan three, American History tv with programs examining u. S. Foreignpolicy. Journal liveington every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up saturday morning, we will discuss the latest data breach and what protections are in place for consumers area did with a Consumer Program director for the u. S. Public Interest Research group and a look at the federal reserves recent Interest Rate cut with Washington Post economic correspondent. Also whether people are still turning to historical sites to learn more about American History area be sure to watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern on saturday morning area look for podcast week next week. On monday, we will talk with Larry Oconnor host of the washington examiners examining politics. Tuesday, producer of the New York Times the daily will join us. Wednesday, the host of global dispatches. Cohost ofthe podcast tell you what. Friday the host of congressional dish. Join the discussion. Interviewexclusive with President Donald Trump as it reflects on his first two and a half years in office including the raising of the debt ceiling. You take a look at the eu and china is doing poorly. Other countries are not doing very well. We are the hottest country in the world area we doing great economically and otherwise. We have a very strong military. At some point very soon i will be able to cut back but we had to rebuild our military. We didnt have a choice. An interview with President Trump saturday at 10 00 eastern on cspan. Listen wherever you are using the free cspan radio app. At 10 30morning eastern, the first of two president ial democratic primary debates. Ofn sunday, the second round memory debates. Thats saturday and sunday at 10 30 a. M. Eastern. The Senate Armed Services committee this week approved the nomination of john heighten. 207ommittee vote was this weeks confirmation hearing was attende