Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday pledged to strengthen the alliance between Japan and the United States.
"We want to work together to further strengthen the alliance," Ishiba told a Self-Defense Forces review ceremony at a training field of the Ground SDF's Camp Asaka, which straddles Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, apparently keeping in mind a possible meeting with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
Work is underway for setting up Ishiba's first face-to-face meeting with Trump, who won Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, later this month.
Referring to recent military activities by China, Russia and North Korea, Ishiba said, "The Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy and national security."
"We will build a network of allies and like-minded countries in an effective and multilayered manner to further ensure regional security and stability," he said.
The prime minister also promised to "steadily realize" the strengthening of Japan's defense capabilities, including the deployment of long-range missiles, which would be part of its planned counterstrike capabilities.
He indicated that concrete measures to improve the treatment of SDF personnel will be drawn up at a meeting of related ministers at an early date.
The GSDF, the Maritime SDF and the Air SDF take turns to host an annual SDF review ceremony. With this year marking the 70th anniversary of the Defense Ministry and the SDF, Saturday's event was attended by about 800 SDF members.
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