Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command on January 12, 2025 local time in Hawaii. Photo: screenshot from Kyodo News

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command met on Monday local time on the sidelines of the Honolulu Defense Forum in Hawaii, with deepening bilateral defense cooperation in focus, according to media reports on Tuesday. From the related media coverage, while Japanese side highlighted defense ties with Washington, there seems to be no mentioning of China-related remarks from the US side. 

A Chinese expert noted that against the backdrop of strained China-Japan relations, the meeting reveals Japan's intention of leveraging US power to embolden itself and confront China. However, for the US, allowing itself to be "dragged into the fray" by Japan into a direct military confrontation with China runs counter to US national interests.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on Tuesday, Koizumi met with Paparo for about an hour in Hawaii on Monday local time. The Kyodo News Agency said Paparo and Koizumi discussed further enhancing cooperation between their countries' forces.

Koizumi claimed that Tokyo will promote Japan-US defense cooperation, in the shared awareness that the regional security environment is "growing more severe," citing "increasingly hegemonic actions" from China, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. 

In turn, Paparo hailed the Japan-US alliance as "the most important and significant" for stability not only in the region, but for the world. In related coverage of the two's meeting by multiple Japanese media outlets on Tuesday, including those from NHK, Kyodo, there is no mentioning of China-related remarks from Paparo in the event. 

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that discussing the importance of the military alliance has almost become a "standard routine" at every meeting between senior US and Japanese military officials.

Judging from the recent strategic priorities of the US government, compared to the Western hemisphere and the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region is not currently Washington's top concern, Song said. "Faced with strained relations with China and finding itself in a certain strategic predicament, Japan is actively trying to pull the US into joint confrontation against China," he said.

Koizumi and Paparo also attended the Honolulu Defense Forum, an annual international security-related conference on Monday. Afterwards, Koizumi is scheduled to travel to Los Angeles to visit defense companies ahead of a meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on Thursday, according to media reports. 

In his address to the forum, Paparo claimed that Beijing was continuing to put military pressure on countries despite the recent stability in US-China political relations, the Financial Times reported. Regarding Koizumi's speech, the Yomiuri Shimbun highlighted Koizumi's lauding of Japan-US ties.

"Tokyo has been frustrated that the Trump administration has not offered stronger public support in response to the pressure from China," read a Financial Times report on Tuesday. It added that Koizumi on Monday played down concerns about the US response, claiming that "the Japan-US relationship is stronger than ever."

According to Song, Koizumi's public boasting about the Japan-US alliance is largely typical diplomatic posturing, aimed at reassuring domestic public opinion, bolstering confidence in the alliance, and at the same time applying pressure on China. However, from the perspective of actual interests, it does not align with the US' real strategic priorities to be dragged by Japan into a high-risk direct confrontation with China, which is a nuclear-armed power and major military power.

Refuting the hype over "China threat" narratives, Song said that China has consistently been a constructive and positive force for peace and stability in the region. 

No matter how the external environment changes, China possesses strong strategic resolve and ever-growing military strength, and is fully capable of calmly responding to all provocations and challenges, while safeguarding its core interests and the overall stability of the region, he added.