U.S. and Japan boost cooperation as Marines adapt controversial plan to counter China

Amna Nawaz:

Today, at the White House, President Biden welcomed the prime minister of Japan as he ended a tour of top industrial and military allies.

Japan, like many nations in Asia and beyond, is wary of a rising and muscular China. The two leaders pledged to work closely together on military matters, which includes the remaking of a fabled American military branch in the Pacific.

Here's Nick Schifrin.

Nick Schifrin:

In the air above Japan this week, Japanese paratroopers trained for an airborne assault. For years, they have been called the self-defense forces.

But now they're jumping into a new future, and with the U.S. transforming their military to prepare long term for war with China. Japan promises to double defense spending by 2027. And purchase and develop missiles that can strike deep into other countries.

Sheila Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations: The extent of investment in the military instrument of power, I think, is historic. In the postwar period, Japan has never put this much resources all at once into building its military power.

Nick Schifrin:

Sheila Smith is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She says 77 years of history…

Narrator:

The surrender documents by which Japan…

Nick Schifrin:

… since imperial Japan surrendered and accepted a pacifist constitution is at a watershed.

Sheila Smith:

What we have often seen in the past is, in Japan, you have a certain amount of public hesitancy to engage in too much investment in military power. That has dissipated.

And so what the Japanese are really recognizing is, they need to be ready in case they have to fight.

Nick Schifrin:

Japan says North Korea's missile and nuclear program presents a more grave and imminent threat than ever before.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine shakes the very foundation of the international order. And China's threats and military expansion pose Japan's greatest strategic challenge.

Sheila Smith:

The behavior of China has really made many Japanese feel that they are behind the eight ball, so to speak, and they really need to be part of a coalition response to that more assertive China.

Nick Schifrin:

And so Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this week launched a Western tour, including signing Japan's first defense agreement with a European country and culminating at the White House today.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: We're modernizing our military alliance.

Nick Schifrin:

President Biden and Kishida said the two countries have never been closer and praised Japan's shift on defense.

Fumio Kishida, Japanese Prime Minister (through translator):

This new policy was set forth by Japan and I believe will be beneficial for the deterrence and response capabilities of the alliance.

Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: It's especially wonderful to be here at NASA.

Nick Schifrin:

And the U.S. is expanding its commitments. The U.S. now promises any attack in space would trigger a mutual defense provision. The U.S. and Japan will increase training on Japan's southwest islands, some of which are 1,200 miles from Tokyo, but just 100 miles from Taiwan's capital.

And the Marines will repurpose their presence in Japan into what they call a littoral regiment. It's designed to be more mobile, better conduct reconnaissance, and fight from remote islands. They will be equipped with not-yet-acquired anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. The Marines portray themselves as the best of the best, capable of responding quickly anywhere on the planet, including for the last 20 years fighting land-based counterinsurgencies.

To focus now on China and maritime campaigns is what a current commander called a revolution.

Narrator:

From the hill fights of Vietnam to the global war on terrorism, Third Marines has adapted its mission, its structure, its training. With threats evolving in the Pacific, it's time to adapt again.

Nick Schifrin:

The Marines' goal, operate within what's known as the First Island Chain inside the area vulnerable to Chinese missiles, as some other U.S. military weapons, such as ships and aircraft, stay at a distance.

Marine Corps Commandant David Berger.

Gen. David Berger, Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps:

You're there side by side, shoulder by shoulder with the partners, with the allies that the U.S. has. You're not — you're not leaving them. You're not going back to the rear.

Nick Schifrin:

This week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin provided his most public support for the Marines' shifts.

Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense: These actions will bolster deterrence in the region and allow us to defend Japan and its people more effectively.

Nick Schifrin:

A senior administration official told me the Marines' moves represents a significant posture change and Japan's agreeing to the change reflects a major development in the alliance.

For more on the Marine Corps plan to take on China and redesign their force structure, we turn to retired Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper.

General, thank you very much. Welcome to the program.

We have spoken to a half-dozen three- and four-star retired Marine generals like yourself who voiced concerns about the Marines' plans. You have been particularly public in your criticism.

What are your worries about the vulnerability, the sustainability and the access for these Marines being deployed in the Pacific?

Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper (RET.), U.S. Marine Corps: The Marines have always been an offensive organization. The few times we have been in the defense, it hasn't gone well.

In fact, there's an analogy. In the Second World War, the Marines had a defense battalion on Wake Island. They weren't able to resupply, to provide any support. And, of course, the island fell, with tremendous casualties and prisoners.

What we're talking about now is putting Marines on islands in the First Island Chain on the Western Pacific. There is no ability logistically — and even the Marine Corps will admit this now — to support them. You won't be able to get casualties out.

Nick Schifrin:

I spoke to the current Marine commanders on Okinawa, and they acknowledge some of your concerns about logistics, but they point out that they do not have to do everything themselves, that they will be supported by the Navy and the Air Force.

Will that be possible?

Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper:

No.

There have been articles written where the actual fact — the numbers have been done, and it's over 900 metric tons a day. Even with the Marines and the joint force, they can't keep them supplied.

Nick Schifrin:

Let's talk about the overall strategy when it comes to China.

And defense officials I speak to in the Pacific say they support these changes, because they need the Marines and the Army to operate within the First Island Chain and make Chinese targeting much more complicated, since the Chinese are trying to keep the Navy and the Air Force out.

Doesn't that make sense?

Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper:

No.

The Marine Corps in their initial document said this would be a low-observable unit. I have looked at all the equipment. There's not one item of equipment that has any stealth or low-observer capabilities. Now the Marine Corps is saying, what we will do, we will tell people where those units are as a deterrent to the Chinese. Which is it going to be?

There's going to be low-observable, but there's no indication — none of the equipment in the unit has stealth-like capabilities. The Chinese are going to target these right at the outset, and take them out.

Nick Schifrin:

Marine leaders say they do acknowledge some of the concerns that you're raising, but that, if the Marines are going to play a major part in what the Defense Department calls the pacing challenge, China, they will have to make bold changes, and that they're working to solve some of the vulnerabilities.

What's your response to that?

Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper:

The mistake is divesting yourself of current capabilities.

And, as you know, the Marines gotten rid of all their tanks. They're in the process of getting rid of cannon artillery, cutting squadrons. Why would you cut these things before you have the capability they claim that we will have in the future? So we're going to have a vulnerability gap here of anywhere from eight to 10 years for an unproven capability.

Nick Schifrin:

A senior defense official told me that the items that you're talking about that have been cut are more relevant to invading Afghanistan again, rather than taking on China, which, again, the Defense Department identifies as the future threat.

Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper:

All I can say is, look at Ukraine. What do we need in Ukraine? They're crying for artillery. They're looking for armored, tanks. They want fixed-wing close-support aircraft. They want helicopters.

Those are the kinds of things the Marine Corps has cut or is well on the way to cutting. The Marine Corps in the Western Pacific will be a missile force. It'll have no infantry maneuver units on the ground. What people think of the Marine Corps will not exist. They're rapidly cutting it.

So, instead of being a force that's able to deploy worldwide for contingencies, it's going to be sitting on islands in the defense. It's an untested concept, but we're making — we're actually making the structure cuts and cutting the weapons before we have this capability that I don't think will even exist.

Nick Schifrin:

Was there a way for the Marines to become more relevant to the fight in the Pacific without losing that global response capacity?

Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper:

Yes.

What the Marine Corps always done is been a global response force. It's been able to respond globally because it aboard amphibious ships. It had air alert forces. It was on scene. All of those capabilities are being cut for a promise in the future that those of us who are resisting this and arguing against that don't think will ever come to fruition.

Nick Schifrin:

General Van Riper, thank you very much.

Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper:

Thank you. Appreciate it.